Devil Apocalypse
by Rialga
Summary: Just when things couldn't seem to get worse for Takashi and his friends, demons start to appear, which ends up causing even more problems for them. However, Takashi turns out to be the descendant of a certain devil... Expect blood and language later on.
1. Chapter 1

My second fic! I fully intend to make sure that this one turns out as awesome as I imagine it to be. And thank you too to those that left reviews for my first fic. Hope that my writing improves more so I can do even better fics.

I don't own Devil May Cry (sure as hell wish I did) or Highschool of The Dead (an awesome manga).

This fic is basically going to be from Takashi's point of view. Well not exactly his point of view, but more like the events of this fic will be surrounding him (like a third person point of view). And for the most part, this chapter is going to exactly be like chapter 7 of the manga except for the last part. The following chapters will also follow the manga, but don't worry as I plan to put my own spin on it.

Devil Apocalypse

Takashi drove the motorcycle as fast as he can. He zoomed past Them while Hirano shot down those that he couldn't avoid from the second floor of Shizuka sensei's friend's house. He put the pedal to the metal and soon enough, he drove right into the front yard of a house. Takashi fell off of the motorcycle as it skidded and crashed into the door.

He quickly got back up. "Ow... I need to stop acting as if this is a comic book here," he muttered as he dusted himself off. Then he heard a scream and his mind snapped back to reality as he remembered that he was here to rescue that little girl. He closed the gate so that no more of Them would be able to get in and he turned to see the girl in the corner with a small dog barking at the group of Them that were already there to begin with.

"Stop it... leave me alone... I've never done anything wrong," the girl said between sniffs. One of Them approached her, but Takashi came up to it from behind and whacked it in the back of the head with a crowbar. The dog barked as he did so.

"You're doing great! I just need you to hold on a little longer!" Takashi told the girl. He kicked the zombie down and turned to hit another one across the face. "Pick on someone your own size!" he said with a confident smile.

"Onii-chan, behind you!" the girl yelled. Takashi spun around and pulled out the pistol which Rei had given him earlier. He put the barrel inside the zombie's mouth and pulled the trigger. The zombie flung back, it's life - if it could be called that - snuffed out.

"Thanks. You saved me," he told the girl. The dog barked at him. "You too," he said. He heard noise and looked at the gate. The arms of Them were reaching out in between the bars. "This doesn't look good. The bike's totaled." He knew that there was no way the motorcycle would be able to work now from the crash. Takashi took a good look past the gates.

His eyes widened as he saw a huge crowd of Them right on the other side of the gate. "Whoa!" Even if the motorcycle wasn't damaged, there is simply no way that they'd get past Them. "I didn't expect it to get this bad," Takashi said to himself. He felt a tug on his sleeve and looked to see the girl looking up at him.

"Onii-chan," she said. Takashi put on a smile for her, trying to appear calm. "My daddy... he died." Those words were all it took to wipe the smile off his face. He took a coat off of the clothesline nearby and placed it over the girl's dead father. He plucked a flower and handed it to the girl.

"He died protecting you. He was a great dad." Takashi gave the flower to her and she began to cry a few seconds later. "Not so loud or 'they' will get in," he said quietly to her.

She looked at him. "Can't we get out of here?" she asked. Takashi didn't want to get her hopes up, but he had to point something out to her.

"They're filling the street," he told her.

"We don't have to go through the street. We can just go over them," she said. That was when Takashi noticed the high wall. Before long he was carrying the girl on his back while the dog was sticking out from the front of his school jacket as he carefully walked across the wall. He was moving slowly, hoping that he wouldn't slip and fall into the street or else they were dead.

"Don't look. Don't look at the street. Just look at the wall you're walking on. Just look at the wall you're walking on," Takashi kept telling himself, but that was a lot easier said than done. For some reason he couldn't fathom, the dog began to lick his chin, which was distracting him. The girl stopped the dog though and Takashi thanked her for stopping that distraction. "Aren't you scared?" he asked.

"I am! What about you, Onii-chan?" she replied.

"...I'm not scared at all. Not one bit." If he sounded a bit more confident, the girl wouldn't be laughing at him. He continued his walk until a moment later, she said something that made him stop. "Say it again," he told her.

"I have to pee," the girl said.

"...Can you hold it?" he asked.

"Umm. No."

"The world is destroyed in a single day, I get together with a group of people I hardly know and am forced to fight, and now I'm stuck doing all of this heroic looking crap," Takashi whined.

"O-onii-chan, I-I can't hold it anymore," she said.

Takashi cursed his luck. "Alright go ahead and do it there. It's fine. Onii-chan will forgive you." Just as she was about to do her business, they heard the roaring of an engine and they looked to see Saeko and the other driving a hummer there way. The huge car plowed its way through Them as if they weren't there.

"They sure know how to make an entrance," Takashi said aloud.

"Are they friends of yours, Onii-chan?"

"Yeah, they're very important friends," Takashi replied with a smile. With that said, he moved quickly across the rest of the wall, but then noted as he approached that his friends - well, Hirano and Saeko anyway since the other were in the car - had looks of shock and fear on their faces. Takashi immediately began to wonder what was wrong, but then he seemed to feel a presence behind him.

He stopped right where he was and looked behind him. Takashi's eyes widened as he saw something that couldn't be explained. It was some kind of creature, that much was certain, but it was unlike anything he's ever seen. It looked like a sack of some kind with a hood that had a strange clownish design on top that Takashi assumed to be its head. The thing had arms and legs, but it looked like a sack too and one of its arms was a blade. He could see something writhing underneath the thing's 'skin'.

Now while it has only been a day since this mess started with Them, Takashi thought that there would be nothing that can surprise him anymore, but this thing proved him wrong. It walked across the wall towards him. He felt fear build up inside of him and he was unable to move. Judging by the lack of a reaction from his Saeko and Kohta, it was likely that they too were feeling the same way.

The thing drew closer and stopped. A few seconds later, it looked at him as if it had just noticed him for the first time. It stood still for a second longer before letting out a sound that could've been a chuckle and its blade arm lashed out at him at nearly unseeable speed. The blade cut Takashi across his right arm, narrowly missing the girl.

Takashi let out a short yell of pain, but thankfully he didn't lose his balance on the wall. Then again, this could be interpreted as a bad thing as the creature wasn't satisfied with just a single slash. It moved closer and slashed Takashi again, who has turned around to avoid having the girl get hurt. He got hit on his shoulder and he nearly fell. Before he could react to anything else, he was cut across his chest, his other shoulder, and across his legs.

Takashi was bleeding badly from the wounds as they were quite deep. He could hear his friends yelling out his name as they approached on the car. The creature reeled its blade back and even though he was losing consciousness quickly here, Takashi knew that the creature was going to impale him. Without even thinking, he suddenly threw the girl and the dog off of him and onto the hummer, Saeko and Hirano catching them.

Takashi, glad that they were safe despite his sudden burst of strength which surprised him, turned and faced his attacker just in time for the creature to shove its blade right through his heart. At first he didn't feel anything, but then the pain hit him and his consciousness ebbed away, the last thing he heard being his friends shouting out his name.

However, he could've sworn that just as they called out his name, he heard another name that seemed to be coming from his own mind. "Sparda..."

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter.

Please review.

P.S. I apologize for my rather sucky description of the Scarecrow. I have a problem with descriptions, but I hope to do better when I do another one.


	2. Chapter 2

Ughhhhh... school's starting again in a few days... damn... hoping to have more time to do more chapters. Oh well, I just have to hope nothing too hectic gets thrown at me for a few weeks. I can't guarantee when I'll be getting new chapters out, but it may take a week and a half maybe two weeks.

Thank you for the reviews I got for the first chapter. It sets me at ease knowing that I've already gotten the support of others. I was actually getting cold feet about continuing this all of a sudden, but the reviews helped me regain my nerve (ha ha, yeah I tend to suffer from sudden cases of cold feet pretty often and so I apologize for that).

I already have the next few chapters planned out, just working out some issues regarding certain details, but I should be able to get them out soon. Then again, I'm still getting use to the system of adding new chapters so that may put me back a day or two (yeah, I'm not really tech savy so that really makes me lag behind sometimes).

As I'm sure you'll notice, the story follows the HOTD storyline, but I will be changing things up soon.

I don't own Devil May Cry or Highschool of The Dead.

Chapter 2

"Sparda..." That name kept repeating over and over in Takashi's mind. He didn't know why or how something like that would be happening, but given the current mess that the whole world was in, it didn't seem to surprise him too much.

His entire mind was blank other than that name, no images or any other train of thought. Suddenly, he appeared in his own mind. Takashi blinked, bewildered as he looked around, seeing nothing but darkness. He touched his arms and chest, feeling for the wounds that the creature had inflicted, but didn't feel the wounds at all. "What the hell?" he said. He noticed that he didn't even feel pain.

"What's going on? I was sure that I got cut across my chest. There's no way that it could've been a dream or something," Takashi told himself. He suddenly felt a chill run up his spine and he looked around for... well he didn't know what to look for as he didn't know why he suddenly felt so cold.

Another chill went up his spine, making him look forward. At first he saw nothing, just darkness. Takashi focused his eyes and still saw nothing. When he was about to turn away, something caught his eye and he looked back.

At first he seemed to see a faint light, but then the source of it got closer and he soon realized that it wasn't light, but was hair. "The hell?" Takashi thought. Now he could see that what he saw was a person of some sort, but nothing like anyone else he's ever seen. The person was a man, quite tall, and had a medium build. Now something like that would be normal, but the man's other features were not. His slicked back hair, which Takashi had mistaken for a light, was silver and it was so light that it could've been white. He had ice blue eyes that carried a coldness that made Takashi shiver.

In addition to his unique hair and eye color, the man had a light complexion that complimented his hair and eyes. He wore a monocle over his left eye and had on a purple jacket. And in his right hand was a rather large sword that Takashi knew could split a person straight in two with a simple swing.

Takashi stared as the man approached, the thought of doing anything not crossing his mind at all. Something about the man seemed oddly familiar, but Takashi has never met him before nor seen anyone that resembled him. The man continued to come closer. Takashi, without even thinking, took a step towards him.

That was when the man suddenly changed. He went from looking like... well a man... to that of something inhuman. He was still the same size as before, but his appearance was radically different. He had hooves of some sort, a semi reptilian hide, a pair of horns that could easily impale something on it, some insect like wings on his back, while the rest of his body seemed to be some kind of armor with slight ting of tyrian purple. To top it off, he had a crown - a big red gem - imbedded in his forehead and he had gold knee and elbow guards.

The man, or rather creature, let out a growl. Takashi jumped back, shocked by the change. He would've ran off even though he had the feeling that he would never be able to outrun the thing and that feeling was proven right as the creature suddenly appeared before him and reached out to him with a clawed hand...

And that was when Takashi woke up. His eyes opened wide, his fear evident as he nearly let out a gasp. He blinked several times as he slowly realized two things: 1) he wasn't dead and 2) he was in the hummer. As Takashi began to relax as he digested these two facts, he heard singing and it sounded like Kohta and the girl that he rescued.

"Oh man, it was just a dream." Takashi let out a sigh. Then he looked down and saw Saeko's head resting on his leg. Being the guy that he is, he naturally began to feel quite... stimulated. He felt a nudge on his shoulder and noticed that Rei was asleep too. Takashi would've had a little outburst, but his thoughts strayed from anything dirty as he heard Saya yell at Kohta.

"Wake up everyone! We're almost there!" Shizuka sensei said. She didn't seem to realize that he was awake as she gave no reaction despite practically turning around to say that. Rei stirred and woke up completely upon seeing his face. She had a look of shock on her face. Takashi blinked in surprise as Rei suddenly seemed to start crying lightly.

"Thank God... you're fine..." This comment took him by surprise, but then he remembered the thing from yesterday and shivered. Saeko woke up, drooling a little. She looked at him as well and seemed to have a relieved look on her face. But then she noticed the position she was in and blushed.

The hummer pulled up onto the shore of the river and Takashi, Rei, and Saeko got out. Shizuka and the others noticed that he was up. "Komuro, you're all right!" Kohta exclaimed. Saya didn't say anything, but it was obvious that she was happy. The little girl was happy too and so was Shizuka. The dog barked in joy. Takashi wasn't paying them much attention though as he checked his body for the injuries that he should have, but didn't. He pondered over how that could be possible. He snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed they were all staring at him with wonder.

"What? Is something wrong?" he asked, truly confused by their looks. They all looked away, seeming somewhat embarrassed and the girls went to the other side of the hummer to change. Takashi went up to Kohta. Kohta was trying not look at him.

"Okay seriously, what's up with the stares?" Kohta looked at him, his face serious. He motioned for Takashi to move away from the hummer a little so they could talk.

"Komuro, this is going to sound strange, but well... you've gone through a few... changes," Kohta said.

Takashi blinked in confusion. "Gone through a few changes? What do you..." he trailed off as he realized that everything seemed a bit shorter than before. "Am I... taller?" he asked. Takashi went up to the hummer so he could see his reflection. He did a double take at his appearance.

His hair had gone from being black to silver and his eyes were now an ice blue color. And he was indeed taller, standing about three or four inches taller than before. He noticed that his shirt was feeling a little snug as he was leaner and more muscular than before too.

"What the hell happened to me?" he asked Kohta as he turned back around to face him.

Kohta shrugged. "We have no idea. All I can tell you is that you started changing after that thing stabbed you."

Takashi was really beginning to freak out. First that damn thing, now this. "What happened too after whatever the hell it was attacked me anyway?"

"It took off and Saeko and I grabbed you before you fell. We drove out of the neighborhood and all the way here." Kohta seemed as confused by this turn of events as well.

"Damn it, just when I thought things couldn't any crazier." Takashi pinched his temple, feeling angry for reasons he couldn't fathom. "Ah forget about this for now. For now we need to focus on getting to our homes," Takashi said, figuring that it would be best to push this new development aside for the time being. He was more than curious and concerned about this, but he doubted he'd be able to think up an explanation for this any time soon.

"Right," Kohta said reluctantly, making it obvious that he would like to know why this happened now.

"Oh yeah, what's up with the girl? Is she alright?" Takashi asked, remembering her now.

"She's fine. A little shaken still, but that's expected. Her name is Alice Maresato by the way."

"Come to think of it, I didn't even know her name," Takashi thought.

The dog barked at him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Oh, you're as hyper as ever." Takashi picked up the dog and was surprised that he felt light. Sure the dog was small, but it seemed to feel lighter than before.

"We decided to call him Zeke," Kohta said. He went on to say that the name Zeke comes from the American army and that it was given to the zero fighters. It was Kohta's idea of course.

"Use this Komuro." Kohta handed him the shotgun. "It's a shotgun, so you only have to aim in the general direction of their heads."

Takashi set Zeke down. "Like I said before, I don't know how to use it. I'd be better off with a bat," Takashi said, but Kohta seemed to ignore him as he pumped a round into the shotgun.

"Doing that gets the shells ready to fire. After you get a target in your sights, pull the trigger and their heads will blow off. You don't have any practice, so only use it on Them when they're up close," Kohta explained.

"What do I do when I run out of ammo?" he asked.

"Open the gate here like this. Then push it in like this," he continued to explain, giving a demonstration. "They can usually four shells. The chamber can only hold one at a time. You can't put in five, so be careful. Now this gun has another special feature..."

"I'm not going to understand it from hearing it once. I'll just use it as a club," Takashi said as he took the shotgun. But the instant he touched it, he felt this weird sensation coming from the gun. It was like a rush of some sort, flowing from the gun and into him. Takashi's eyelids fluttered for a second as he felt the rush end. "What was that?"

He looked back at Kohta and saw that he seemed down. He suddenly felt bad for being a little rude. He looked at the shotgun again. "I wonder if it'll work on those things..."

"Onii-chan!" Alice called out and Takashi turned to look and his jaw slightly dropped. All of the girls have changed into something more battle appropriate. Well, Rei and Saeko were dressed in their school uniforms, but Rei has added knee and elbow guards and a strap for ammo to her attire while Saeko had a slit in her skirt and was wearing leggings. Saya had her skirt still, but wore a jacket that was open at the top to expose what could be called a sports bra. Shizuka wore the same clothes as last time, only with a shorter skirt.

"What? Got a problem?" Rei said with a smile as she noticed Takashi staring.

"No, it just suits you... do you know how to shoot that thing?"

"Hirano can show me how. If not, I can just use it as a spear." This caused for Kohta to have a bayonet attached to the barrel.

With everyone now prepared, it was time to move. Takashi and Kohta began to walk up the hill, Takashi feeling everyone staring at him from behind. Now that he knew how he looked like, it was no surprise, but the stares still bothered him. He and Kohta stopped near the top and nodded at each other. They both moved quickly onto the road and faced the opposite direction, looking for Them. There was no sign of them.

They called for everyone to come up now and had to duck when Shizuka suddenly came up in the hummer at surprising speed. "How can she make the hummer move like that?" Kohta muttered. They all discussed where to go and agreed to go to Saya's house first. They all got in the hummer except for Takashi and Rei, who sat on top.

As they drove, Rei turned to Takashi. "Hey, Takashi! Did you notice?"

He turned to her. "Notice what?"

"We haven't seen any of Them at all since last night?" she said with a smile.

Takashi realized that that was true, but he happened to notice something else: there were helicopters flying all around before, but now there were none at all. And with that, they continued their way to Saya's house, Takashi completely forgetting about the dream and the mysterious being in it.

And that's chapter 2 for you. I know that it didn't have any action or anything, but I hope you liked it. Don't worry though, there will be action coming up soon along with more demons to make things crazier.

Oh, and the description of Sparda's demon form I mostly memorized from the Devil May Cry wiki (thank God for that).

Please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Ah, school has started... I can tell that this is going to be rough, my last class anyway... hope it doesn't delay my plans for this fic. That would really suck if it ends up taking a week longer than it should to type up a chapter...

Oh well, no choice but to go along with it.

Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 3

They hadn't driven very far until they began to run into Them, quite literally in fact as Shizuka ran some over. "What's going on? The closer we get to Higashi Hill's 2-choome, the more of Them there are!" Rei shouted. Takashi was next to her wondering the same thing as well.

"Damn it, there's gotta be reason for this," Takashi said. He blinked suddenly as he noticed something. In the distance he saw what looked like wires stretched out across the road. "Oh shit. Shizuka sensei, stop the car! Stop it now!" he yelled out.

"Huh?" It was the response he got from Shizuka. The same could be said of the others as it was obvious that they were confused by his sudden outburst. That and it was impossible for someone's eyesight to be that good from such a distance. It seemed that it wasn't only Takashi's appearance that have gone through some changes.

Takashi got pissed. "There's wires stretched across the road, so if you don't want to end up cutting us all cut to ribbons, then stop the damn car!" His anger was evident and everyone was taken aback by it, but Saeko now saw the wires and so did everyone else. Shizuka slammed on the brakes.

The hummer skidded, but still kept getting closer to the wires. The guts from Them were making them slide like that, but Shizuka was able to stop by easing of the brakes and hitting the gas. However, when they did come to a halt, the hummer hit the wires and it made Rei lose her balance and fall of the hummer. She hit the front of the hummer and then fell onto the ground, making her easy prey for Them as they came closer.

Without even thinking, Takashi slid off the hummer wielding the shotgun with just one hand. As he touched the ground, he took aim at a small group of them and without hesitation, fired. The one in the middle had its head blown cleanly off and the other fell back from the force of the shotgun blast.

"What the...?" Takashi couldn't help asking himself that as he has never fired a shotgun before and the shot didn't feel like a fluke to him. More of Them kept approaching and so he once again fired without thinking, blowing two of them down with a shot. He smiled as the bodies fell. "Wow, don't know what's going on with me, but this is nice."

The smile faded though as more of Them approached. "There's way too many of Them," he muttered. As he said that, Kohta shot down a few of Them and turned to Takashi.

"Don't stop firing!" That was all he needed to say to get Takashi to continue blasting away at Them. A few shots later though, he was out and had to reload. He clumsily fumbled a few extra shells out of his pocket, but dropped them.

He swore and went to pick them up. Saeko got out of the car and rammed the butt of her sword into the face of one of Them. "Komuro-kun! I'll help you protect Miyamoto-kun!"

Takashi looked at her as if she was crazy. "No! There are too many of Them to fight with your sword!"

She smirked. "I realize that!" She quickly turned and slashed at another one of Them. Takashi would've continued to argue, but he gave up and decided to focus on Them for now. Having picked up the shells and loaded them, he continued to pick off Them with some assistance from Kohta.

However, it wasn't long at all until he was out. The only way to fight Them off now was to use the shotgun as a club. Takashi ran up to one and smashed the butt of the shotgun right into it's face. Rather than just simply falling down from the force of it, the head seemed to explode as if struck with another round from the shotgun. Takashi's eyes widened in surprise.

"What the hell?" He could never hit that hard before. He turned around and saw that Rei was looking as shocked as well. So was Kohta, who also watched this, but he shook his head and pointed past Takashi. Takashi quickly turned and smashed the shotgun again into another one of Them, resulting in the exact same thing. "Wow," he said to himself.

Unfortunately, the shotgun couldn't take so much force and it broke into pieces after that swing, something that Kohta cried about for a second. Takashi threw the pieces to the ground and walked up to a group of Them, confident that he could take Them down easily with his newfound strength.

He lashed out with an elbow as he got near and was rewarded with a satisfying splat as the head was crushed and blood flew onto a nearby wall. Then he spun and kicked another in the chest, his foot literally burying itself in the zombie's sternum. It didn't kill it, but it sure made it back up. Takashi finished it with a punch to the skull.

Takashi killed the few remaining ones with just as much ease, unconsciously letting out a barely audible laugh at how easy this was now. He didn't notice everyone giving him strange looks as this was as surprising as when he went through those changes.

More of Them came, but Takashi took them out as well, smashing in their heads as if they were mangos. More blood spattered the streets. At first there was a huge crowd of Them, but now all that remained were the headless corpses of Them all over the road. Takashi smiled in satisfaction at his work.

"Komuro?"

He turned to Kohta. "Just how the hell were you able to do that?" he asked, his amazement obvious.

"I have no idea. I just clubbed Them like I did in the beginning. Your guess is as good as mine about whatever's happening," Takashi replied. Now that they were safe, he could take the time to think about all of these recent developments.

"Wow, Onii-chan, you were like a super hero!" Alice practically yelled as she got out of the hummer and went to Takashi. Takashi laughed sheepishly as she hugged him.

"I wouldn't exactly say that. If I really were a super hero, then I'd be wearing a cape and costume." He smiled as Alice laughed.

Rei, Saya, and Saeko though seemed worried. Takashi could tell by the looks on their faces. He saw that Kohta now had become serious and Shizuka... well, she was being Shizuka as she stood there next to Rei, supporting her since she was hurting from falling off the hummer.

"Oh crap, I totally forgot. Rei, are you okay?" he asked, now concerned.

She gave him a weak smile. "I'm fine. Just need to rest a bit."

"Crap! Everyone, look!" Kohta yelled out.

They all spun and froze at the sight. The creature from yesterday has appeared once again. However, the real reason why they just stood there like statues was because there were several of them and they were approaching quite fast.

Takashi involuntarily shivered as he remembered how he was impaled. Kohta took aim at one of them and fired. The thing lurched back for a quick second. It began to move forward again as if nothing happened. Kohta cursed and fired again. At this Saeko drew her sword again and waited for one of them to get closer. Even Saya moved a bit towards them, a gun in her hands.

"Do you know how to use one?" Kohta asked.

"I'm a genius!" was her response.

She took aim and pulled the trigger. She managed to hit one, but it had as much effect as Kohta's shot. Takashi turned to see Rei, Shizuka, and Alice huddled together, unarmed but determined. Seeing his friends fighting their fear of these things made him feel a bit pathetic as he wasn't doing anything.

He looked back at the creatures and took a deep breath. "I can do this... I can do this... I'm stronger than before..." He mumbled. Takashi charged at one as fast as he could. He moved in close and kicked it as hard as he can. To his surprise, the thing flew back from the force, but it got back up as soon as it landed. The other ones took note of his presence and clumsily moved towards him. As one got close, it spun around, its bladed arm sticking out.

Takashi saw it coming and noticed that it was fast, but not as much as it was before. He stored that fact away along with all of the other weird things he's been through in the back of his mind and moved back to avoid the blade.

He felt a pain in his back though. He turned and saw another one had slashed him. Funnily enough, he couldn't feel a wound. Takashi punched it and the thing staggered, which Takashi then took advantage of and started to hit it again and again.

Several punches later, the thing died. Well, it seemed to die as suddenly, a black mist of some sort shot out of it and the thing's body seemed to deflate. Takashi jumped back in surprise and this nearly led him to being hit again, but was saved by a timely intervention from Saeko, who had come up and struck the thing across the back.

From afar, Kohta and Saya were taking shots at the other ones, but the shots weren't dealing enough damage to them. The creatures shrugged off the bullets and continued to approach Takashi.

Takashi had just finished off the one Saeko hit and had just noticed the others coming. "They're getting shot one after another, but they're completely ignoring everyone else," he thought as they all were focusing on him.

There were only four left, but everyone still felt a little scared as these things were unknown and they didn't know what exactly to do. Only two were dead and it was Takashi who killed them and because of whatever has happened to him, it was unknown if it was something only he could do or if they weren't doing something that Takashi was.

Considering all he did was beat them with his fists, the only explanation was that they weren't dealing enough damage. With this in mind, Kohta and Saya upped the firing rate and the things were being peppered with bullets.

This was a good thing and a bad thing as they could actually see them hurting now, but two of them turned and now moved up to the hummer. "Oh shit," Kohta muttered as he just ran out of bullets. He quickly scrambled into the hummer and got himself another clip. He tossed one to Saya as well.

While that happened, Saeko had ran up to the two left that were going for her and Takashi and hit it with the butt of her sword. It barely flinched, but she didn't let up as she began to slash away at it with everything she had. The thing lashed out with a slash of its own, but Saeko was able to dodge albeit barely. Another couple of slashes later, the thing staggered and Kohta took this chance to take a shot at it. This time, the thing moaned as the black mist poured out of it and died.

Takashi was beating on the other one and had just killed, having found it surprisingly easier to kill it. It was almost as if he was getting used to this. "Fat chance of that. I'm barely getting use to Them," he thought.

By the hummer, the last two were close now to it, but a final shot from Saya brought one down. However, the other one was still kicking and it jumped high into the air. Rather than having a blade on its arm, it had one on its leg and right now, that particular leg was aimed at Kohta. Kohta had just ran out of bullets and Saya was out too. The thing was coming down fast and Kohta knew there was no way he could dodge it.

Takashi and Saeko saw this as well and began to run towards the hummer, but by the time they did start moving, the thing was practically on top of Kohta. He had closed his eyes, preparing to take the blow.

"Everyone, get down!" This sudden yell took them all by surprise, but Kohta complied and quickly ducked as a powerful burst of water shot out above his head and struck the creature head on. It flew back and before it could get up, it was shot several times by someone and it died.

Everyone looked and saw a small group of people clad in gear on the other side of the wire. One of them went up and made an opening for them. "This way. You'll be safe over here." Takashi and the others didn't have to be told twice as they moved through the opening and to the other side.

As Takashi was making sure Kohta and the others were okay, Saeko had walked up to one of the people and bowed. "Thank you for rescuing us in our time of need," she said respectfully.

The person she bowed to took off the helmet, revealing to them a beautiful woman. "Of course. I wanted to help my daughter and her friends," she said with a smile.

Saya ran towards her. "Mama!" As she embraced her mother, everyone else watched them with a content smile on their faces. And so the day came to an end.

Okay, that last bit felt a bit corny, but no matter how many times I do it, it just doesn't come out right.

Well, I was able to get this done relatively fast and I was also able to get the demons in there as well. Don't worry though, I plan to put other demons in there, I'm just focusing on throwing in the Scarecrows first.

So I hope you liked it.

Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

Ah... I can tell that one of my classes is going to be tough and it's barely the first couple of weeks. Really hope that it doesn't cut too much time out of my writing (typing?) of this fic.

I forgot to put the disclaimer too in the last chapter now that I think about it... well, considering that this is a fanfiction site, then it's already known that I don't own anything except for any OCs that I make up (which I don't intend to do).

So to be safe... I don't own Devil May Cry or Highschool of The Dead.

Now onto the chapter!

Chapter 4

"Takashi..." Rei barely whispered.

Takashi sat before her, holding her down by the shoulders. Shizuka loomed over Rei, her hands coated in some kind of sticky substance. "I'm going to begin. Don't let her get away, Komuro-kun." Takashi merely nodded, gulping as he did so.

A mere second later, Shizuka placed her hands on Rei's exposed back and began rubbing whatever it was that was coating her hands. Rei clutched Takashi tightly, letting out a pained squeal. "When you fell from the car, you hit your back so we spread some ointment or it'll get a lot worse..." Shizuka seemed to say that with a bit too much pleasure.

Takashi was having a hard time keeping himself from staring at Rei since she was completely nude with the exception of a towel that covered up the more private areas. "You traitor!" Rei nearly yelled at him, breaking him out of his hormonal stupor.

"W-what? I was only trying to help with the ointment," he explained.

"That's not true!" Rei yelled.

"Fine, then what did you think I was doing?"

"Consider everything that's happened! The ointment itself was fine... it would've been better if it wasn't Shizuka-sensei."

"Excuse me?" Takashi just had to say that given Rei's response.

"Get out," Rei pouted.

"What's this all of a sudden?" Takashi really couldn't understand Rei's mood. It was beginning to piss him off a little.

"You shooting the gun really hurt my boobs! I'm going to put on the ointment myself from now on!" she shouted as she pushed Takashi out the door and slammed it shut.

Takashi sighed. "She needs to lighten up," he mumbled. He looked around the huge mansion. After having been rescued by Saya's mother, he and the group came here to her house, although mansion is the only way to describe the ludicrously huge place. "Well, at least we can finally get some rest."

I get it already! You're always right mama!" Takashi cringed at Saya's loud voice. For some reason his hearing was sharper than before, but now he had a feeling that he might go deaf soon. Saya marched down the hallway, obviously angry. Then again, she seemed to almost always be that way.

"Takagi..." Takashi said as she passed him, but she turned and before he knew it, she was yelling at him.

"I told you to call me by my first name!" she screamed.

Takashi, taken aback by her yell, mumbled out a sorry. "Don't lower your head to me like any other guy would! Oh whatever... why would it be any different now! I thought at least you would..." Saya didn't finish that sentence and just ran down the hallway.

"I really upset her," Saya's mom said as she approached Takashi, having apparently seen Saya run. "Have you seen this side of her. You've been her friend since kindergarten, haven't you?"

"Ha ha, well kinda," Takashi couldn't help but say. Sure he knew Saya since kindergarten, but saying they were friends wasn't exactly how he'd describe the relationship. "Anyway, this is really amazing. I knew your house was big, but this is just... wow."

"You've never come over to play before, have you?" she asked.

"Well, I guess not."

She smiled at his honesty. "But don't you find the house of the leader of an ultra-nationalist group to be a little frightening?" she asked.

Takashi sweated a bit. "A little... sorry."

She laughed. "I like boys who are honest."

"Um... but we're not overstaying our visit or anything, are we?" he had to ask.

"Not at all. Right now, much like with its water, Tokonosu is getting its electricity from the dam up north at Okunako. But..." she trailed off.

"What is it?"

"It's to protect the hydro plant and transformer substations. A small part of the Self-Defense Force was on standby in case of terrorists attacks, but they've been deployed elsewhere."

"So the hydro plant and substations are defenseless," Takashi summed up.

She nodded. "Yes. We have workers there and they are not trained fighters so they are easy prey for these... things. And to add to the trouble, we've encountered some of those creatures that you and the others fought off earlier."

Takashi's eyebrows perked up. "Wait, you've fought those things before?" The answer became obvious to him after he asked as she nor the others with her were very surprised when they blasted that creature away from Kohta.

"Yes. They began to appear not long after this entire disaster started. We were all shocked by them and some of the people with us were cut down before anything could be done. Thankfully, they were driven away, but it seems that there are more appearing," she explained.

Takashi gulped. He had felt confident fighting them earlier since he was much stronger than before and that there weren't that many of them, but if more were popping up, then he wasn't too sure he or anyone else would be able to handle them.

"And now it seems that some of these creatures are following those walking corpses to the hydro plant." That statement really hit Takashi. Things really are going to Hell. "The workers there have families too. When they find out that those things are getting closer, they will most likely panic and try to get home to their families by whatever means possible. However, since chances of them ever getting home are slim, we will be taking full responsibility for what happens. But we will only help those who want to survive."

Takashi took this in with his head down as he pondered something. "I want her to understand." Takashi looked back up at Saya's mom as she spoke again. "But she doesn't agree with anything I say. I suppose it'd be too much for me to expect a favor from you." She smiled.

Takashi knew what she was asking. "I'll try," he said reluctantly. With that she turned around and began to walk when she turned back around. "What is it?"

She stared at him for a moment, seeming to analyze him. Finally she spoke. "I don't ever recall your hair and eyes being that color," she simply said. Takashi nervously laughed and walked away.

"Persuade Takagi, huh... I haven't won a single debate since kindergarten." He couldn't help but say that. If Saya wouldn't listen to reason from her own mother, then Takashi was more than certain that he had no chance of succeeding.

"You idiot, you tried to carry it too far too fast!" Takashi turned and saw two men struggling to carry a huge case. He went over helped them a bit, but as soon as he did, the man spoke again. "Okay, we've got it. That's enough, kiddo!"

"No, I want to help," Takashi said.

"Don't worry about it! This is an adult's job! You kids just kick back," one said and with that they left. Takashi looked a little hurt that they would just shrug him off like that, but he didn't push the issue.

"You don't look so good," Saeko said as she appeared. She wore a beautiful kimono that Takashi couldn't his eyes off of. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing really, it's just that... that looks really good on you," he said, a small blush on his face. Saeko blushed at his comment and he started to get agitated. "No, uh, I didn't mean anything weird!"

Saeko put her hands up as if to calm him down. "Ahh, don't worry about it. I won't take it the wrong way." They both stood still, feeling a bit embarrassed, but a few seconds later they began to laugh. Alice came down the hallway and ran up to them.

"What, what?" she asked as she saw them laughing.

"Nothing, we're just glad that you're doing okay," Takashi replied.

She smiled. "Yeah, I'm doing fine!" she said back enthusiastically. Takashi couldn't help but marvel at how she was able to quickly adapt to this new and crazy world. Just yesterday when they arrived here when she had gone to bed, she had cried herself to sleep. Yet now she was fine. Takashi had to wonder if he or anyone else would've done the same thing if their parents turned out to be dead.

They passed by a room and Saya popped out. "Komuro." She and Kohta were doing something in there.

"What are you doing?" Takashi had to ask.

Saya's face got serious. "Komuro, I think we should talk." And within minutes, they were all in Rei's room, Rei still laying out across the bed with the towel still wrapped over her.

"Can I stay too, Kohta-chan?" Alice asked.

"Of course! Alice-chan and Zeke are part of our band of companions, too," he replied happily.

"Oh sure, let's all just assemble in here," Rei complained.

"You can't really move. There's nothing we can do about that," Takashi explained.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Shizuka asked, peeling a banana.

"The next time you set out, I'm not so sure I should accompany your little 'band of companions'," Saya said with her back to all of them.

"Of course. Now we've banded together with a bigger group, stronger group. In other words..." Saeko knew what Saya was saying.

"Yes, I have two choices! Can you understand that?" Saya sounded pretty pissed off.

"Split up? But why?" Takashi didn't like this idea at all. Saya was the smartest of the group and if she doesn't go with them, then they're going to have more trouble than they could probably manage.

Saya walked out onto the balconey. "Maybe you should look around and see for yourself! If you still don't get after that then I revoke your right to call me by my first name!"

Takashi looked at the street. All he could see was Them going around and eating the pieces of what used to be people. Blood spattered like paint all along the walls. "It's gotten worse. It's a whole other world out there." He looked down at the people inside the mansion area. They all were doing something, ranging from putting stuff in trucks to helping others by the tents they have set up.

"Your dad is really handling this well, especially for just being a right-wing elite. Your mom's pretty amazing too," Takashi pointed out.

"Yes, they're amazing! They have a lot to be proud of. Even now, they're always away, dealing with this. But if they can do that much, then..." Saya trailed off.

"Takagi..."

"Call me by my first name!"

"You shouldn't think badly of your parents, especially considering how things are right now. It's rough for everyone." Takashi tried to emphasize the 'everyone' part.

"That sounds like something my mom would say. I know, I know , my parents are the best! Even when something unexpected happened, they took action right away and protected their mansion and staff! Of course it's not like they forgot about their daughter! She's the apple of their eyes!" Saya was beginning to lose it.

"That's going too far..." Takashi said, his expression unreadable.

"As expected! They're really amazing! I shouldn't expect anything less from my papa and mama! They didn't think I survived so they gave up immediately!"

Takashi couldn't take this shit from her anymore. "Stop it. Saya!" Before any of them could even blink, Takashi reached out with one hand, snatched Saya by the scruff of her shirt and lifted her high off the floor. His eyes had changed from the ice blue that they've become recently to a fiery red as he felt a surge of anger hit him. Everyone naturally looked shocked by his action.

"Ah... that was pretty sudden. But it took you long enough." Saya had tears in her eyes. This just pissed Takashi off even more.

He brought her closer to his face. "It's not just you! We're the same! We're all having an equally tough time. No, actually you know your parents are okay, so you're even better off. We don't know if our families are still alive. Hell, we might not ever find out. It could turn out that this change of mine recently could end up killing me before I ever see my parents again."

Takashi stared at her intently, driving the point home. After a moment of complete silence, Saya spoke. "... Okay. I get it so let go of me."

Takashi sighed, but complied. "Sorry," he said as he set her down.

"Yeah, you should be. But it's fine," she said as she picked up her glasses and put them back on. "Well, then. It's about time we got to the matter at hand."

As soon as she finished that sentence, they all heard cars pull up to the mansion. The cars passed through the open gates and came inside. Kohta looked out the window to get a look. "Is that...?"

"Yes, it is. The don of this prefecture's ultra-nationalist organization. He alone determines what's right and what's wrong. My papa," Saya said as a man stepped out of the car in the front.

About several blocks away, two figures walked down the street. Both bore a rather unique appearance and it was obvious that they were foreigners. One was a tall man, a few inches over six feet, well built, and dressed almost entirely in red, his coat in particular standing out. His most unique features though were his ice blue eyes and silver hair. He carried a huge sword on his back and held two pistols in hand.

"Damn, things all over the world are really going to Hell. Shit, I was hoping there'd be some place still running with some pizza," he said.

"Dante, do me a favor and shut the fuck up," his companion said. His companion was a woman with black hair and heterochronic eyes, one blue and one a brownish red. The woman wore white short and a button long sleeve shirt that matched. On her back was a huge missile launcher that looked like something out of a game. And to top it off she had a few handguns strapped to her legs.

The man named Dante turned to her. "Sheesh, you're pretty harsh today. Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today Lady?" Lady didn't answer, she just kept walking down the street. Dante sighed. Ever since this these zombies or whatever they were started to pop up a day or two ago, she's been on edge and Dante was beginning to feel pretty pissed off. Sure the world was now officially having an apocalypse, but still would it kill her to lighten up just a bit?

The two walked in silence until a few moments later, Dante stopped. "What is it?" Lady asked. Dante didn't answer, but he stared off in some direction. "Let me guess: he's nearby."

Dante nodded. A day ago, he felt something, a presence appear and from what he could tell, it felt familiar only he couldn't place it. However, it did feel a lot like Vergil, but it felt more human too. Dante was too curious to just ignore it and thankfully their last job had been pretty damn close to here so it wasn't too hard to follow it.

"Yep, dude's near. Coming from over there, maybe one of those houses in that section there," Dante pointed out. Lady looked and took out a pair of binoculars. One can never be too careful when hunting demons.

"There's a lot of people at one of the houses," she remarked.

Dante grinned. "Then that's where he is." Both of them began to walk in that direction, but didn't get very far when roars were heard. Several shadows seemed to leap out of the huge bushes nearby and landed with a heavy thud in front of them. Huge, muscular lizards stood up, a shield attached to their arms and with some kind of ceremonial crown on their heads.

"Assaults huh?" Dante smirked as he pulled Rebellion off his back as Lady readied her weapon, the Kalina Ann. "Alright, I've been looking for a good warm up."

The Assaults roared once more and rushed the duo. "Let's rock!"

And there it is, the fourth chapter!

Dante and Lady have joined the story now and you can expect them to be killing demons in style pretty soon. Hmm, the descriptions I did of Dante and Lady could use some work, but nothing I did made it better, so I hope you can forgive me if you think the descriptions suck.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll try to update again very soon.

Please review.


	5. Chapter 5

Just watched Resident Evil Afterlife not too long ago. Much better than I expected, but was disappointed at some parts. If you haven't watched it and you plan to, then I'm not going to say anything to spoil it, but chances are you'll react the same way as me at some parts. Some of the previews were pretty damn cool though.

Okay, so I don't own Devil May Cry or Highschool of The Dead. And this might be the last time I put this disclaimer since everyone knows that I don't own these two awesome works.

Now onto the chapter!

Chapter 5

Saya's dad, a serious and stern looking man that looked as if he could kill someone with an intense glare stood before a crowd of people on some kind of podium. Beside him was a cage with one of Them in it. "This man's name is Doitetsu Tarou. He has been a friend to me for the last 25 years!" Saya's dad announced to the crowd, who were looking at the cage with fear.

"In attempting to help rescue a junior officer... he was bitten! It was an act of self-sacrifice! This is the most noble thing a person could hope to do! He is no longer human. His life ended when he turned into this abominable thing!" He began to draw out his katana that he kept at his side. "And so, now..."

One of his servants that was with him on stage opened up the cage and moved back. His dead friend lunged out of the cage and right at him. "I will demonstrate my friendship!" he yelled out as he swung down his sword and cleanly sliced off his dead friend's head and arm.

The people watching this up close looked horrified by this action. Saya had closed her eyes while Takashi looked shocked by how this man didn't hesitate at all. Saeko looked impassive, but it was obvious that she was as shocked as Takashi.

The man's head hit the floor of the podium and Saya's father took a step towards it. "Farewell, dear friend!" And with a yell he stomped down on the head, crushing it almost completely as blood flew out. The eyeballs even popped out from the force of the stomp. "This is the kind of thing that makes up our 'here and now'! Great friends, beloved family, and lovers all becoming things. For their own sakes, we must destroy them! If you wish to survive... fight!"

Takashi and the others had watched this with their complete attention, none of them saying a word.

"Katanas aren't efficient enough..." Kohta muttered.

"Don't comment on things you don't know about, Hirano-kun," Saeko calmly said.

"But a japanese sword's blade dulls if it hits bone and after three or four swings, the blade's through," Kohta retorted.

"Listen, following the way of the sword results in a number of things. A warrior's skill, ability with a sword, and finally focus. If these three things are taken to a high enough level, then one can behead any number of people without losing combat strength." Saeko went back to looking at the decapitated body, which the servants were beginning to clean up after.

Saya and Shizuka were watching this as well with their own expressions, Saya still with her eyes closed and Shizuka looking disgusted by the sight. Saya's dad turned to look at them up on the balconey. Saya returned her father's cold look.

"B-but you get blood and grease on it," Kohta said, trying to argue his point still.

"It's the same as cooking," was Saeko's reply. "A good cook will never leave unnecessary grease on a good kitchen knife. That applies to swords as well."

"But- but-" Kohta sputtered out.

"H-hey, Hirano, it's okay..." Takashi reached out to calm Kohta down, but Kohta threw his hand off of him.

"Don't touch me! Don't butt in! You can't even fire a gun properly!" Kohta yelled. He took off before anyone could say anything.

Takashi was more than pissed by his sudden attitude. "What's his problem?" The anger he felt earlier when he chewed out Saya was returning and he'd give an arm and leg to take it out on someone.

"You should understand. You and Hirano-kun are both boys, after all," Saeko reasoned.

"I know that already."

"You're just... no." Saeko seemed to sigh. "I guess you're opposite sides of the same coin."

Saeko left and Saya followed suit, but not before letting out a sigh that suggested that she was feeling annoyed by Takashi. Takashi just really couldn't catch a break from them.

"What's with them?" This earned a laugh from Shizuka.

"What, sensei?"

"I was thinking, I'm really glad I came along with you guys. Even though the world is being overrun by Them, youth is still so wonderful!"

"But when you say it like that..."

Shizuka moved towards the balconey. "You know, Komuro-kun, I... I'm getting my clinical training at the college hospital. Being the temporary school nurse, when I'm dispatched elsewhere, I'll have to make a lot of decisions..." she trailed off.

"This is sudden," Takashi replied.

"Please ask me. Ask me for advice on what you should do. So, things can be how they always were. Please!" Shizuka was barely holding it together.

Takashi understood what she was going through. They all understood what everyone was going through. The world is pretty much at an end with seemingly no sign of things ever returning to normal so whoever is left alive, like them for example, are left to try and cope with this predicament. "I'm sorry sensei. I can't right now."

"Then leave. I want to live how I choose to. So go away."

Takashi was about to do just that when he heard a commotion by the gate. "Hey stop! Who are you?" He looked and saw a few servants by the gate, having shouted out that statement at two people.

"More survivors?" Takashi muttered. However, as the two began to talk to the servants, he caught a better glimpse of them. One was a woman with a whole armory practically strapped to her body. The other one was a tall man with silver hair wearing a red coat. A huge sword was visible on his back.

Takashi shivered unconsciously as he looked at the man. The dream from before came back to him and he found himself looking at the same guy only he was wearing different clothes and his hair style was different. He felt something, like an aura or something like that, coming off of the man, it felt familiar yet Takashi couldn't place it at all.

The gate was opened and the two walked in. The man looked up as they approached the mansion. Takashi shivered again. He felt that things were going to get bad pretty soon. He backed away from the balconey and began to take his leave before anything happened. He passed Rei on his way to the door.

"Isn't there something you can be helping with right now?" she asked him.

"Who are you to scold me?" he said to her sharply.

Alice, who was with Rei, began to cry, but fought to hold in the tears. Takashi mentally berated himself. "Thanks. I'll see if I can think of something." He tried to say that with a smile.

Rei smirked. "No problem."

Takashi walked towards the door, continually telling himself that the man in red didn't mean something bad. He'd have sounded a bit more convincing to himself if he hadn't crushed the doorknob out of fear.

Outside on the ground level, Dante and Lady were being shown around a bit by one of the servants. Dante was tuning out most of what the guy was saying save for the more important bits like where to get food and all. He would take glances towards the mansion.

"So he's in there?" Lady asked him.

Dante nodded. "Yep. Saw him earlier when we got here. Seemed to notice me," Dante said, his usual cocky attitude replaced by a more serious one that he rarely has shown.

Dante was thinking pretty hard right now, something that he doesn't often do. Every time some big bad mess went down, the area affected was never bigger than that of a city. When Temen-ni-gru was raised and demons started appearing, only the city he was in was affected. Mundus starts messing with him, Mallet Island pays the price. Sanctus, whom Dante thought of as a rip off of the pope, went too far with his faith and Fortuna ended up ruined.

But this situation was different. While these zombies were nowhere near as powerful as even the lowest of demons, they were causing a hell of a lot more havoc. From what he and Lady were able to pick up, this thing seems to be going down worldwide. And demons were taking this chance to show up and make things even worse. The appearance of this kid took Dante by surprise too and Dante was never one to believe in coincidence.

"Something big is going to happen soon. I'd bet my left nut on it," Dante said.

"Something wrong?" the servant said, having not understood what was going on as Dante and Lady had spoken in english.

"Nothing, just talking about how screwed up this whole thing is," Dante said in japanese slowly. Taking demon slaying jobs from all over gave him the benefit of learning some different languages although he did have some problems at first. During one of his first jobs here in Japan, he accidently called his client an asswipe when he meant to say Asakura-san. The guy understood that he made a mistake speaking in japanese, but the guy never hired him again afterwards.

"Well, once this little tour of ours is over, I'd think it would be a good idea to confront him before anything else happens," Lady told him.

Dante sighed. "Yeah." Sometimes, it's kinda complicated to be him.

Back inside the mansion, Alice had ran up to Takashi and asked him to talk to Kohta again. Takashi had tried to say that might not work out, but she insisted and took off to get Kohta. "It's the mutiny on the bounty," Takashi remarked to himself after Alice left. He thought back to something his teacher said to the class about a ship called the H.M.S bounty where mutiny arose after the crew stayed in Tahiti for a lengthy period of time.

"Looks like this is another Tahiti," he muttered, wondering just how this seemed to suddenly happen. He knew that things weren't exactly likeable or even tolerable, but still he never expected for them to have sudden arguments like this.

He didn't get very far out the door when Alice came back for him. "Onii-chan! Hurry, come with me!" She grabbed Takashi by the sleeve and tried to pull him. Takashi didn't move at first, but relented and followed her.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It's Kohta-chan! Kohta-chan is in trouble!" Alice responded, seeming rather frantic.

As they continued to move, Takashi could hear voices being shouted. "You don't want to screw with us! Just give them to us already!" a man shouted.

"No!" Takashi recognized Kohta's voice immediately.

He saw Kohta on the ground, carrying a few guns in his arms. Men that he figured were part of the nationalist group that Saya's dad is the leader of surrounded Kohta and they sure didn't look happy. "Hey, c'mon , you know these are tough times. One person shouldn't hoard all those weapons like that. Hand them over to us..."

"No! I'm borrowing these from someone, and besides there's no one here who can use these as well as I can!" Kohta mumbled out. He was practically sweating.

"You little brat, Yoshioka-san asked you nicely so stop being so selfish!" one of them said.

"We only want them to protect everyone here!" another man yelled.

"Hey, he doesn't even care." This prompted the men to try and move in and take the weapons by force.

Takashi was about to move in and help Kohta out, but stopped as a voice filled the air. "What is all this commotion about?" Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. They all turned and saw Saya's dad walking straight towards them and he didn't look happy at all.

"D-don! Th-this punk kid thinks those guns are his own toys," one of the men spouted out.

He stopped a few feet away from Kohta, flanked by his wife. "I am Takagi Souichirou, don of our patriotic organization. Tell me your name, boy!" Souichirou demanded.

Kohta was practically shitting himself, completely intimidated of Saya's dad. "Hi-Hi-Hi-Hirano Kohta, Fujimi High School, second year, class B, number 32!" Kohta said frightened. Takashi felt sorry for him. He was scared of the dad too.

"Do not speak so boldly, Hirano-kun! That I myself had to come here is proof that you have caused a good deal of trouble." Souichirou was serious.

Saya's mother made a move towards her husband. "Dear, this boy is..."

"I know, he is from her class."

"Well then."

Souichirou leveled a stern gaze at Kohta. "Why will you not hand over the guns?"

Kohta shook his head several times. "No! No! Without guns, I... I'll go back to what I was! I'm done with the old me! I thought I'd finally found something I was good at!" he yelled.

"Such as?" Souichirou asked nonchalantly. Kohta couldn't come up with anything immediately and was about to just end up as a sobbing mess when someone spoke up.

"Such as protecting your daughter!" Everyone's ears perked up at that as Takashi walked to Kohta's side.

"K-Ko-Komuro," Kohta said, thankful for his assistance.

"Komuro... I see. I have heard your name. You've known Saya for a long time." Souichirou sized Takashi up.

"Yes sir, but since this all started, Saya's been... your daughter's been under the protection of Hirano here." Souichirou was silent as he took this in.

"Kohta-chan!" Alice came rushing over and hugged Kohta. Not long afterwards Shizuka showed up with Rei in tow.

"Even I can see how much courage he has. Don Takagi," Saeko said, having come as well.

"And I can too, papa!" Saya announced as she walked alongside Saeko. "He may be a freak and a worthless gun otaku, but it's because of him that I'm here. He's one of my companions! He's been protecting me, unlike you, papa!" Saya said without wavering for a second.

However, while this was going on, there was a young man, possibly around the same age as Takashi and the others standing by a wall, talking on a cell phone. His eyes had a deranged look to them. "Yes, that's right. I'm preparing my escape now. I think if we ask them now, they'll let us in. Yes Shidou-sensei!"

And in some other part of the town, was Shidou and the other students that chose to stay with him on the bus. The students were all engaging in a sexual orgy, moaning clearly heard throughout the bus as they acted in accordance to their lust. In the middle of this stood Shidou, a smile on his face as he had listened to his follower. With everything seeming to go according to his plans, Shidou closed his cell phone.

And that's the end of the chapter!

Phew, this took a bit more time to finish up than I thought, but I think it was worth it. Sorry to those that were expecting Dante and Takashi to meet, but don't worry for they will soon!

Please review.


	6. Chapter 6

Phew, just beat Dante must Die mode on Devil May Cry 4 and man, it was tough. However, it wasn't as tough as I expected, but then again it's probably because I'm comparing the difficulty to the time I played DmD on the original DMC3 which I've been told is much harder than the special edition of DMC3. Super Dante and Super Nero sure kick ass in bloody palace. I actually cleared it with Super Dante, but it sure took a while.

And thank you to everyone who's reviewed this fic as well as giving me advice. I hope that I can use the advice you gave me to make this an even better fic.

However, things are going to start getting hectic at school, so chances are I'll have less time to update and I also plan on starting my other planned fic To Fight a God soon after this and then alternate between that and this fic, but hopefully I'll be able to come up with a decent schedule. I will try to update in three weeks or less hopefully.

Chapter 6

The group stood before Souichirou as he stared at them, trying their best not to flinch. A moment later though, a man came up to him and whispered something into his ear. They couldn't hear it, but Takashi was able to just a bit, something about a commotion by the gates. "Why should I do something like that!" Souichirou suddenly roared.

Saya flinched from his voice. "If you speak with them, my daughter, I will know that you are not a fool!"

Saya's mother stepped forward. "Saya, your mother is asking you as well. Those people would be too careful about what they say if your father or I were to go."

The others were lost by the conversation, but Takashi knew what they were talking about, which was for Saya to go talk to the people stirring up trouble and calm them down. "I-I'll go with her," Kohta said.

"I'll go too." Takashi carried a shotgun in his hand. Rei was about to volunteer to go as well, but Shizuka stopped her and said that she had to put on more ointment, to which Rei responded by trying to run away.

"I'll accompany you as well," Saeko told Souichirou.

"No. I would like to speak with you for a time, daughter of Busujima-sensei," Souichiro replied. Meanwhile, Saya's mom took Alice with her to get a present for Zeke as the people who were causing an uproar took notice of something.

At another part of the city, Shido and the students were on their bus still. Shido sighed as he leaned up against one of the seats. "There is no better aphrodisiac than fear," he remarked with a smile as the students with him continued their sexual ways with each other.

He clapped his hands. "Everyone, your attention, please! Attention! Free time is over!" After everyone settled down somewhat, he continued. "I have news from our heroic friend who went out on his own. I just spoke with Kurokami-kun. We'll be welcoming a group of refugees! It sounds like they're a rather large group." Everyone seemed to cheer at this.

"But as the teacher who is supposed to be guiding you all, there's something I've been worrying about! Unlike when we were at school, I'm encouraging you all to love freely now. Why is that? I've determined that you're all qualified to do so! I take serious pride in being the teacher of a group of such wonderful students as yourselves! But please look outside. Look at this pitiful situation!" Shido pointed theatrically outside the bus.

Many of Them littered the streets, wandering around mindlessly, blood dripping from wounds they've suffered when they were alive and from those that they've eaten. Some were close to the bus, but seemed unable to hear them inside.

"This world has become filled with the living dead who wish to bring harm to others! And most of the people who are still alive think it's okay to only be concerned with themselves! How dreadful the reality of this world is! Excluding us, of course, that's how everyone in the world is now! No, the world has been that kind of place for a long time now..." Shido paused for dramatic effect as the students soaked up every word he spoke.

"This tainted world is being brought to ruins by such sinners! But all of you are different! Still young, you've faced travesties and had your relatives torn from you! You are the angels that will create the new world." The students had tears of happiness in their eyes. "I'm just a dirty adult who cannot hope to match you, but..." Shido had tears flowing from his eyes. "I'm begging you, I want you to purify me of my sins."

He motioned to the students. "Everyone, please guide me somehow! I want to see the new world you will create after this chaos! To achieve that ends, as an adult and as a teacher, I am happy to take on the burden of being our leader! Now, our hearts are as one! We can only overcome this crisis with strength as a group! Let's build a new world together with just us and continue to grow closer!" Everyone cheered at Shido's speech. Everyone except one student.

Shido noticed this. "What's wrong, Yamada-kun?"

The student named Yamada sat there, his nervousness evident. "It's weird. What you're saying is weird."

"Oh?" Shido smirked darkly.

"I don't care about this new world or whatever. For now, I just want to make sure my family is okay..."

He was interrupted by another student."Family? Who gives a shit about them! You've just been quiet this whole time! You haven't even been playin' around with any of the girls!"

"Yeah, but still."

"Shut up!" a girl that was next to the student yelled.

"You think if you were with your parents, you'd be able to do shit like this," the student said as he groped the girl's huge breasts. She moaned as he did so. "Ha ha, I love this! Shido-san lets us do this all we want! He's fuckin' awesome! I'd follow him anywhere!"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about; it's weird! I want to see my mom and dad!" Yamada retorted.

"What a predicament." Shido now stood before Yamada. "What should we do with you? I just don't know. Everyone, how should we with what Yamada-kun is saying? Everything he says is corrupt. Should we return to the world that is trying to rob us of our freedom? Or... must we direct him along the right path and to our new world of freedom?"

"Why don't we kick him out" the girl suggested.

"Yeah, let's kick him out and leave him on his own!" the student from earlier said with glee.

"Kick him out, kick him out," the other students began to say over and over.

"Here? Sensei, please. At least let me stay until we're a bit closer to my house," he pleaded.

"I'm afraid that decision is up to everyone else. What should we do?" With that said, the student grabbed Yamada and opened the bus door and kicked Yamada out onto the street. He landed with a heavy thud, attracting the attention of Them nearby.

"Damn it," he muttered as he got back up, but then took notice of them. "I-I'm sorry, I was wrong. Help me!" Yamada begged, but the only response he got was the students smiling and laughing at his predicament.

Shido sat in the driver's seat and slowly began to drive away, Yamada trying to follow the bus as he continued to beg. However, before this could continue any longer, the undead that were approaching Yamada stopped suddenly. They seemed to stare up at the sky for a brief second before turning around and shambling away.

Shido stopped the bus, intrigued and somewhat angry at this. Yamada seemed happy, thinking maybe there was a chance for him yet, but then he heard some kind of scrapping sound that sent chills down his spine. He slowly turned and saw something, some kind of creature that looked like all of these sacks sowed into one with a blade for an arm approach him.

It was a Scarecrow, but of course, he didn't know that. Everyone on the bus noticed it as well. "What the fuck is that?" one of them asked, feeling afraid even though they were not in danger. The Scarecrow continued to move towards Yamada, seeming ignorant of the bus.

Yamada stood still for a few seconds longer before finally regaining his wits and began to run, but that pause was all it took for the Scarecrow to move in on him, moving faster than anyone could have expected. It leapt at Yamada and impaled him through his side. Yamada opened his mouth to scream from the pain, but only blood came out.

The Scarecrow lifted its blade arm, picking up Yamada in the process and threw him into a nearby wall, cracking it. Blood gushed out from the wound in large quantities from the force of the throw, splattering all over the place. Everyone stared in horror. They've seen people being eaten and it goes without saying that it was a gruesome sight, but what they were witnessing now seemed worse.

The Scarecrow stabbed Yamada through his leg, then in the other leg. It then worked its way up, stabbing him in the arms, stomach, and chest. Amazingly, Yamada was still alive as the Scarecrow seemed to be avoiding stabbing him in his vitals. The stabbing continued, Yamada letting out barely audible, but horrible groans until with one swift motion of its blade, the Scarecrow cut him straight across his gut.

Yamada's intestines poured out along with all of the blood that had gathered in his stomach from all of the stabs. They hit the floor with a sickening thud that made some of the students puke in their seats. Shido merely watched this whole thing with wide eyes that clearly showed his shock.

They all heard scrapping sounds and turned to their right to see a small group of Scarecrows approaching them now. The one that had been stabbing Yamada now focused its attention on the bus and began to move in its direction. Shido sat back down behind the wheel and drove as fast as he can to escape the Scarecrows, leaving them in the dust.

Back at the Takagi estate, Saya was trying to talk some sense into the crowd that was causing such a ruckus. "How many times do I have to say it for you to understand!" she roared. "The idea that a disease is turning people into murderers is total bullshit! They can't arrive at any definite conclusion regarding Them so it's just a lie spread by the government to keep the chaos from increasing!" Saya was getting increasingly frustrated by these people. They have no idea what they're talking about.

"So you're saying that dead bodies really are running about? Don't be ridiculous!" one of member of the crowd said.

Takashi and Kohta stood nearby and they could feel Saya's frustration as well. These people just don't know when to give in. The whole world is turning into something out of a horror film before their very eyes and they still refuse to believe it.

"It does certainly look like an epidemic of a new disease, but I'm serious! They aren't even remotely human. Couldn't you see that in my pa..." Saya paused for a brief second to calm down a bit, "in Don Takagi's demonstration? I saw it at my school... couldn't you see it in the city! You should have at least been able to see that they started to move again after they died!"

"It is a bit unbelievable that they just keep getting back up, but there has to be a perfectly reasonable explanation," another one of the crowd said.

"If there's one thing about them that has to be admired, it's their tenacity," Saya muttered.

A woman, the apparent leader of the group, agreed with the man. "Yeah! The reason is that they never died in the first place!"

"If that was the case then that'd be great, but do you think amateurs can really make any kind of judgement here? Until the specialists can become settled and research this then we won't know anything! I'm sorry, but it's just not possible for us to say. Do you disagree?" Saya had them there.

The woman tried to say something, but kept stammering. Takashi and Kohta shared a nervous smile; it's not every day they see Saya coming down hard on someone. Well, not over a matter like this.

"Wow, that girl's got some spunk," Dante said from nearby. He and Lady stood close by, interested in this little debate. Dante had to hand it to the girl because although she's young, she knows when the shit hits the fans.

"The people are just scared and are trying to find a way to retain some sense of sanity. You can't really blame them, but they do need to open their eyes eventually," Lady remarked.

"Well this place is just full of interesting people," Dante said back.

"And if I recall correctly, she was one of the people that was with him, right?" Lady asked.

"Yeah, she was. The kid sure does surround himself with a crazy bunch." Dante snickered at that.

Lady sighed. "I think the word crazy applies to you too, Dante," she muttered. Dante seemed to ignore the remark.

Saya sighed at the crowd. "You can't, can you? Then just worry about keeping yourself from becoming food for Them! That's all that matters right now! My papa already said he doesn't know what to do with you, didn't he?"

The woman seemed to realize something. An arrogant smirk crept onto her face. "... That's what you want to say isn't it! Now that I think about it, you're just a bunch of gun waving highschool brats!"

Takashi, Saya, and Kohta all shared the same confused expression. To them, it seemed as if the woman just went off her rocker even more.

The woman turned to the crowd. "It's obviously true! She's the daughter of a right-wing gangster! Threats and violence! They're using these despite all the trouble everyone in the world is going through. Everyone, listen to me! This girl is the daughter of a killer! They want to turn us into killers too!"

"What in the world are you talking about?" Takashi asked, trying to back Saya up.

The group turned to him, their fierce glares trying to burn a hole straight through him. "Children shouldn't interfere in matters like this!"

Takashi was more than pissed off by this. He suddenly felt a powerful urge to literally knock some sense into them, but was trying to fight the impulse. "Children? Is that all you see us as?"

"Quiet! From here on, the adults will be making all the decisions! Us peace loving adults don't need any savage gangsters or highschool kids high on violence. Everyone, let's decide on a representative! After that, we'll meet with Don Takagi and in order to help everyone, we'll donate our time and..." The woman continued to drag on with her little speech.

Takashi stood by with his head down, unable to bring himself to look at these people who have definitely lost it. Saya was exasperated, sighing as if to say that they're on their own now.

"Y-you're right! We have to solve our problems without resorting to violence!" one man exclaimed.

"Volunteers!" the woman shouted, now completely crazed, "let's collect volunteers! If we work together, we can treat the people who have the killer disease! This opportunity will allow us to create a world of true freedom!"

Takashi along with Saya and Kohta began to walk away. "Takagi-san, you did a nice job out there," Kohta said to try and cheer Saya up.

"That was a disaster," was her simple response.

"It's horrible. Everything in the world has gone to Hell and even here people are acting like idiots." Takashi surveyed the group as they continued their delusion as he considered it.

"It's because people view nationalist groups the same way they view the yakuza," Kohta explained.

"We're different! My papa thinks in a more pallid way like Mishima Yukio did!" Saya sounded rather defensive. "Rights-activist right-wing groups and the yakuza don't get along one bit and they've done a lot of things out of goodwill too!"

"But don't they need money to do things like that? When I think of nationalist right-wing groups, I picture people that collect 'protection money' from businesses..." Kohta said.

"You're forgetting that I'm a genius," Saya replied with a touch of arrogance.

"No, I know that very well by now," Kohta retorted and was rewarded for his smart remark with a kick to the gut from Saya before Takashi could stop her.

"My mama is a genius too! She used to be an amazingly talented trader on wall street. When she was returning from a vacation overseas, she met my papa at a party. They got married the next day. Since then, she's only used her talent for my papa. After getting married, the family's total fortune increased by 100 times," Saya expalined.

"Incredible," Kohta stammered.

A silence fell over them after that. "... Anyway, are those people out of their minds?"

"Yeah, they are and don't expect them to snap out of it any time soon," someone said.

The unexpected voice made them all whirl around see a woman dressed in white with more guns strapped to her than Kohta and a tall man dressed in red approach them. They didn't say anything, mainly because Kohta was too busy drooling at the weapons the woman had while Saya appeared to be sizing them up and Takashi recognized the man as the one he saw earlier.

He wasn't feeling scared like before, but rather calm yet ready for a fight. "I sure hope this is just some kind of coincidence. I don't think I can handle any more shocks for a while especially with what's already happened," Takashi thought.

"When such unexpected and unwanted change comes, people tend to close their eyes to reality and are just too damn stubborn to face the truth," the woman said to them.

"Who are you?" Saya asked.

"The name's Lady," she replied.

Saya, Kohta, and Takashi raised their eyebrows at that. "Don't ask," Lady said, seeming to read their minds. "That was a pretty good little debate you had back there by the way."

"It was a wreck, those people just won't listen to reason," Saya said.

"Still kid, we gotta hand it to ya for trying at least," the man in red said.

Takashi had to grab Saya before she tried to jump the guy. It took a minute or two for her to calm down. "I'm not a kid! And who are you anyway?"

"It's Dante, kid." Dante grinned as Saya tried once more to jump him, but Takashi stopped her again.

"Damn it, Dante, could you knock it off? We didn't come up to them to pick on them," Lady berated him.

Dante shrugged off it off. "Hey, not my fault she's got a short temper like Nero does." He paused for a moment after that. After the Order of the Sword incident in Fortuna, he and Nero came to become good friends after that and would work together some times, but he hasn't talked to Nero for a while before this whole thing went down. Although he'd never admit it, he missed the guy since Dante saw him as something of a younger brother given Nero's mysterious connection to Sparda and the fact that he reminded Dante a bit of himself a few years back.

Dante hoped the kid and his girl Kyrie were doing okay in this mess. Before coming to Japan for his job, Trish had told him that she was heading to Fortuna to visit them and that was the last time he heard from them. However, Dante wasn't too worried since Nero could handle himself, the times he fought him being proof enough, and Trish had probably stuck around for a bit so she was most likely there with him and Kyrie as well.

"Anyway, we didn't come up to you to tick you off, kid," Dante said.

Saya looked ready to try and attack him again, but seemed to think better of it and sighed. "Fine."

Dante and Lady looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes, both giving a small nod. Might as well get straight to the point, they decided. "You said you all came here from your school right?" Lady asked.

"Yeah," Saya responded. Takashi and Kohta figured to stay silent and let Saya deal with the two for now, but Takashi was feeling weary of this Dante guy. He stood perfectly still, but it was somewhat obvious that he was on edge.

"You ran into those zombies along the way, I assume?" Lady asked. Saya merely nodded. Lady hesitated for a few seconds before speaking again. "Did you happen to encounter anything else?"

That made them tense. Did she know that they ran into those... things? Did she and her buddy here see some themselves? Takashi and the others asked themselves these questions, feeling suspicious of the two before them. Something was up.

"Yes," Saya said slowly, "and I take it you know what those things are?"

Once again, Dante and Lady shared a look. Might as well tell them. "Yeah, we know what they are, kid," Dante spoke up.

"And what might they be?" This time it was Kohta who asked the question.

Dante stared at him for several seconds, making Kohta flinch. He took a quick breath. "Demons." Their reaction was exactly as he and Lady expected, one of complete disappointment and skepticism.

"Demons," Saya repeated.

"Demons," Lady confirmed.

Minutes passed as they stared at each other. "You don't actually think that we'd believe that, do you?" Saya asked of them.

"So you can accept zombies existing, but demons is just too much of a stretch for you?" Dante asked.

"There's simply no way that demons can possibly exist," Saya said, trying to sound calm, but it was obvious that she was annoyed.

Dante didn't say anything nor did Lady, they both didn't feel like arguing with these kids about this. Besides, Dante felt that he had a more pressing matter at hand, the guy with the same silver hair and ice blue eyes as him, the one he's been sensing for a while now.

"Okay, how about this? I show you some prove, you don't try to argue with us. Deal?" Dante stared at Saya. Lady, having worked alongside him for years, knew what he was about to do, but didn't bother trying to talk him out of it. She knew that something like this was going to happen sooner or later and she'd rather get it over with so that when things are said and done, there'd be one less problem.

Saya looked to Takashi and then to Kohta, both giving her a shrug. Saya turned back to Dante. "Deal."

Dante smirked and reached behind his back. "Alright then. There's no backing out of this deal now." He pulled out Rebellion, earning him looks from them, who've never seen a sword like that before. Before they could say anything, Dante stuck Rebellion into the ground and moved forward, cracking his knuckles.

"Hey kid," Dante nodded to Takashi.

Takashi unconsciously took a half step back. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. No hard feelings, alright?" And with that Dante moved in on Takashi, his speed taking him by surprise. Dante let loose with a left hook and Takashi although shocked by the suddenness of this dodged, albeit barely. He moved away from Dante as fast as he could.

"What the hell are you doing!" Saya and Kohta shouted.

"Giving you guys your proof," Dante said. He charged at Takashi once again.

And that's the chapter. Phew, school the past few days have given me less time to work on this chapter than I thought.

I had hoped to make the little interaction between Takashi, Saya, and Kohta and Dante and Lady a bit better, but for the life of me I couldn't think of a damn thing to do about it.

Well, at least I've begun the battle between Dante and Takashi a bit. To those of you who have been waiting for it, I hope that you'll like the battle in the next chapter.

I hope you enjoyed it and please review.


	7. Chapter 7

All right, time to get this started! I had hoped to start this chapter a bit sooner, but decided to put it off for a day or two to rethink some ideas I had in mind for the fic. However, now that my brainstorm is done, I can finally get this rolling.

And for this chapter, Takashi will be taking on Dante and I'm aware of how some of you were looking forward to the fight. And so here it is! The fight will start off a bit slow at first, but don't worry, it'll get better as it goes (of course, that could be said about any fight really)!

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7

Dante went for a roundhouse kick, but Takashi ducked it in time. Unfortunately, he wasn't lucky enough to dodge the next attack, which came in the form of a backhand. A loud crack was heard as the blow connected with Takashi's face and he flew back from the force. Takashi hit the ground with a heavy thud.

The noise drew the attention of people nearby, but Dante didn't pay them any mind as they began to approach. Takashi slowly got back up, his head swirling from the hit. Dante waited until he got to his feet, thinking about the kid. "Huh, that sure was easy, but something tells me that things are going to start heating up about now."

As soon as Takashi got to his feet, Dante went up to him and threw a casual punch to see what would happen. Takashi regained his senses in time to catch the incoming fist and go for a punch of his own. Dante evaded it and delivered a swift kick, but Takashi blocked it with his own leg. "Damn, didn't see that coming," Takashi thought, "why the hell would he be trying to pummel me for his proof?"

Takashi moved closer to Dante after blocking the kick and tried to go for a grapple. He may not have been in many fist fights before, but he still got into enough of them to know how to handle himself. He hoped that his new abilities would help here as well. Takashi tried for an uppercut only for Dante to take a half step back to avoid it, but didn't get a chance to do anything else as he then got hit in the gut with a knee.

"I didn't even sense that move. Looks like the kid has some skill after all," Dante pondered.

He retaliated with a powerful headbutt given the little distance between them. Takashi staggered back from it and Dante, deciding to not do things so casually now, landed a quick three hit combo on him. The first punch connected with Takashi's stomach while the next one had struck him in the chest and the final one nailing him in the face.

Takashi felt the whole world swirling around him. "Damn this guy is strong. It feels like I just got hit by a truck," he thought, coughing up some blood.

"What the hell is he doing!" Saya shouted, her and Kohta wanting to stop the fight, but knew that they couldn't. The guys were just moving too fast for them to do anything.

Lady stood by and watched calmly, not bothered in the least by this. "It's like he told you a few minutes ago: he's going to give you some prove." She observed the fight carefully. This kid was a decent fighter, one would have to be to be able to at least fend of Dante for this long even if Dante was still pretty much screwing around. However, Lady felt that if Dante continues this, the kid may surprise them.

"B-but does he have to attack Komuro?" Kohta asked as he turned to Lady.

People began to show up at the scene. "What the fuck is going? What's the damn commotion?" one of them demanded.

Lady just ignored them though. "You'll see." This just confused Kohta since he wasn't good at figuring out cryptic messages.

He didn't push the issue though and neither did Saya and they all went back to watching the fight. They just hoped that whatever this was about, it'd end soon.

Dante grabbed Takashi and pulled him in close for a gut punch, but Takashi put his arms up to block it. For the most part, he had been on the defensive, having only tried to go on the offensive once, but that hadn't gone out well. But he couldn't be blocking forever and so he did the same thing that Dante had just done. As soon as the punch was blocked, Takashi quickly reached out and grabbed Dante by the scruff of his coat and punched him with his other hand.

Takashi could feel something crack beneath his fist as it made contact with Dante's face. Dante barely staggered from the hit though and so Takashi struck him again before pushing him away. Dante lost his balance a bit from the punch and shove, but regained it quickly and stood up perfectly still. He moved a hand up to his nose and found it slightly crooked. Without any hesitation, he almost lazily snapped his nose back into place, the nose cracking loudly enough for everyone to hear.

They all looked disgusted by the action, the only exception being Lady who merely sighed. Takashi stood there, a little amazed by how nonchalant Dante appeared to be. "Not a bad punch kid, but you don't have a chance at overpowering me. I once supported the dead weight of statue that was almost the size of Godzilla," Dante said.

Everyone looked wide eyed at him, wondering if the guy was crazy. "That bluff is too crazy to be even remotely true," Saya comment.

"If you only knew," Lady muttered.

Dante suddenly disappeared from sight to everyone's shock. Takashi would've looked around frantically for him if Dante didn't reappear next to that sword of his. "Oh shit." Takashi knew that he was screwed now.

Dante grabbed the sword and pulled it out of the ground with just one hand. The skull that the hilt was comprised of made Takashi gulp. "Now then, how about we kick things up a notch? Hope you're ready kid." That said, Dante rushed forward, Rebellion extended. And the target was Takashi's heart.

Inside the mansion, Saeko and Souichirou were in a huge training room. In his hand, Souichirou carried an impressive looking katana. "What do you think of this?" he asked as he handed the blade to Saeko. "I've heard tell that the daughter of Busujima-sensei rivals even Chiba Sanako herself. If that is the case... with an example to strive for, if you are not too shameful to follow the way of the sword, experience its purity firsthand!"

After he was through speaking, Saeko slowly pulled the katana out of its sheath. Her eyes showed some shock as she examined it. "This is... truly an unusual blade," she remarked, the katana now fully drawn.

"So you can see it," Souichirou said.

"The slightly curved surface of the hamon indicates that this is a Kissaki Moroha Kogarasu Zukuri." Saeko put the sword back into the sheath. "A true companion to the rifle... it looks like a Murata-to."

For what had to be the first time in a while, Souichirou smirked. "Hmm, impressive. You are correct. It is one of the blades that was made in the Tokyo armory by general Murata during the Meiji era. I do not believe the blade has a single blemish."

Saeko placed the sword on the floor before her. "It was an honor to have seen it. Thank you for showing me..."

"It is yours now."

"I know this is rude, but unless there's a reason, I can't accept this," Saeko replied.

"Busujima-sensei gave me his guidance. Accept it... with my gratitude." Souichirou seemed to be enjoying this a bit.

"If that's the case, then I must give it to my father," Saeko said calmly.

Souichirou slapped a hand onto his knee and let out a laugh. "Mmm, just like a member of the Busujima family. You nothing but what you think."

"I'm sorry," was Saeko's response.

"I can imagine that my worthless daughter was quite a burden on you." Souichirou sounded serious again like he was earlier.

"While it's true that I did end up helping her, it's largely because of her that we were able to avoid more danger. I thought that since she went out of her way to look out for us so much, I could feel a bit safer with her around. It's because... the daughter of the Takagi family loves her parents so much." Saeko couldn't help but smile a bit.

"A child resembles its parents." It seemed that Souichirou was smiling a bit too.

"If that's the case, then she's doing it for Komuro-kun rather than herself. He's like our..."

"I have known him since he was a young lad. He has grown into a fine young man! It is clear to me that you trust. But... he is full of doubt!"

"Doubt?... yes that is true."

"In trying times, people need a leader..." However, Souichiro didn't get to finish that sentence as one of his men came into the room.

"I'm sorry to bother you Don, but we another situation on our hands!" the man said, panting slightly as he had to run to get there.

Souichirou's expression grew serious once more and he stood up, Saeko following his lead. "What is it?"

"There's a fight going on out there!" the man practically exclaimed.

"Why hasn't it been stopped?" Souichirou demanded.

The man paused, obviously trying to think of how to answer. "It's just that... Don, we can't."

Souichirou's eyes narrowed. "Who is fighting?

"That silver haired kid from her group!" the man pointed to Saeko, "and some other guy with the same hair color."

Now Saeko was the one to narrow her eyes. "Komuro-kun?" Questions such as why he was fighting and who was his opponent amongst other thoughts crossed her mind.

"Lead me to them," Souichirou demanded.

The man nodded and Souichirou and Saeko followed him.

Back outside, Takashi was dodging as if his life depended on it because it did. Dante swung around Rebellion with one hand, doing so with such speed that Takashi was beginning to wonder if his clothes were still intact. He narrowly avoided the blade as Dante swung it sideways by ducking under it.

However, Dante quickly grabbed the sword now with both hands and brought down Rebellion in a vicious swing. Takashi jumped back, but the blade slightly cut him. He didn't pay any mind to the wound though as he tried to move in close, but Dante merely raised his sword to make Takashi back away from him.

"Damn it, if I get closer, he'll cut me into confetti. But I can't just keep dodging like this otherwise I'll end up being confetti anyway," Takashi thought.

"Gotta hand it to you kid, not many people can keep running away like that from me," Dante said.

He smirked as his comment seemed to strike a nerve. "That's right kid, show me what ya got," he thought. Takashi dodged another swing and ran right at him. Dante, to be nice, let him move in before trying to backhand him with a hand. Takashi put up his arm to block it, but Dante moved in with his other hand, Rebellion firmly grasped in it. Takashi stopped the coming blow the same way and Dante had to give him props for not hesitating to do so since Rebellion was so close to cutting him.

Takashi went for a headbutt as payback for earlier and felt a small smile appearing on his face as it successfully made contact. But like before, Dante didn't seem very hurt by it and kicked Takashi in the side in retaliation. Takashi groaned a bit as he felt his ribs crack from the force and would have dropped to one knee if Dante didn't follow the kick with an elbow to the head.

The attack practically knocked Takashi off his feet and sent him skidding across the ground. He was able to get back though by executing a roll before stopping, but as soon as he did, a shadow fell over him and he looked up to see Dante several feet above him. Dante still had the smirk from before on his face, confirming the slight suspicion Takashi had that he was just playing with him.

Dante executed his Helm Breaker move, one of his favorite moves since its really useful for slicing things clean in two. He came down blindingly fast, far too fast for anyone other than Takashi and Lady to see. Dante was certain that this might be the end for the kid since he didn't seem like he would be able to react in time. He began to wonder if maybe he should stop now before accidently killing him or something, but before he could continue this line of thinking, just as the blade was about to connect, Takashi sidestepped it and lashed out with a fierce uppercut.

Dante's eyes widened in surprise as he was hit square in the jaw. The punch stopped him cold and he clumsily landed on the floor where he was met with a rather unwelcoming recipient: Takashi's foot. He felt the air knocked out of him from the kick and now he was the one to fly back from the powerful strike.

Takashi didn't waste this moment and chased after Dante's skidding form. Just as Dante came to a stop and began to get back up, he was met with a nasty haymaker, but surprisingly he didn't go down from that hit. Takashi then began to furiously punch Dante in the face, not letting up for a second.

The people watching were slack jawed. From when they started watching the fight, they couldn't see anything, only making out a few slight blurs that the fighters were during that time, but now that both Takashi and Dante were more or less not moving, they could see them now. Well, that is except for Takashi's fists and Dante's face.

"W-whoa," Kohta muttered under his breath. He and the others knew that ever since they rescued Alice, Takashi had changed, physically at least, but none of them expected anything like this.

Saya was feeling the same way as Kohta, but she had taken to observing the fight now rather than just gawk at it, trying to figure some things.

Rei and Shizuka, who had come with the other people to see what was going on, were just speechless. "Takashi?" Rei asked aloud to herself. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She knew from the times before with Them that Takashi could look quite fierce, but the look on his face now made him from before look like a wimp. Right now, he had the look of a desperate man fighting for his very soul.

Lady raised an eyebrow at his assault on Dante and was genuinely impressed. Even though Dante was half assing this fight, it wasn't every day that she saw him on the receiving end of something like this. And that dodge-and-strike move of Takashi's that he did when Dante did his Helm Breaker had made her whistle. The kid was more skilled than she had thought and Dante was probably thinking the same thing right now.

And earlier she had a feeling that he would have turned out to be like Dante's brother Vergil, a cold and ruthless person who would be taking some pleasure in pounding in Dante's face now, but the desperate look he had on his face convinced her that the kid was merely fighting with everything he's got not because he's sadistic or anything, but because he thought that if he didn't Dante would kill him. "Now would probably be a good time to stop this then," she thought, but then decided not to, figuring it'd be best to let things end on their own.

Saeko and Souichirou have just arrived as well and remained quiet at the sight. Saeko appeared to be just as shocked as Rei while Souchirou merely observed quietly, his expression unreadable.

Takashi continued his pummeling of Dante's face. He upped the intensity of the assault and refused to stop until Dante goes down. He really didn't know why he was suddenly attacking with such ferocity. Maybe it was because of the guy's almost eerie resemblance to the man, the creature from the dream or maybe it was simply because he had apparently been trying to kill him. Regardless, Takashi didn't slow down, coming to a conclusion that those thoughts can wait for later. "Just go down already," he thought.

But Dante wouldn't. As the punching continued, Dante actually stood up, much to the surprise of everyone except Lady. Takashi would've sworn that he could see a grin on his face despite the whole thing. Even with every punch making a loud crunching noise as the fists struck Dante's face, the fact that he stood up had meant something.

Dante slowly raised his right hand, Rebellion firmly grasped in it and swung at Takashi. However, Takashi had some kind of feeling that he'd do something like that and so just as Dante swung, Takashi stopped pummeling, reached out with one hand to grab Dante's forearm and chopped him in the elbow with the other.

Rebellion fell from Dante's hand and before it could hit the ground, Takashi took hold of it and raised it high. Without thinking about what he was doing, he swung it down at Dante and watched it go through his left shoulder.

By the time the blade stopped moving, it had moved all the way down to his heart and Dante fell to one knee. Everyone gasped as blood poured out of the wound. Takashi backed away, horrified. Even if the guy had been trying to kill him, this didn't have to happen.

He looked out of the corner of his eyes and saw that his friends seemed to think the same thing. Then he looked over to Lady, figuring that she'd be in shock or something from seeing him kill her friend, but she was impassive and sighed, as if this has happened before. "Looks like I should've stopped this sooner after all," she said aloud.

Everyone gasped again and Takashi looked back at Dante and his mouth fell open as Dante stood back up, an amused expression on his face. "Damn, gotta hand it to you kid, that was a nice little fight you put up. The last time I had a decent warm up like this was about a year ago with Nero," Dante said.

Takashi would've probably asked who the hell was Nero if he wasn't in shock, but if he and everyone was feeling shocked now, they all pretty much had their minds completely blown by what happened next. Dante casually grabbed the hilt of Rebellion with his right hand and without even a grunt of pain, pulled the large blade right out, some blood spewing out in the process. To add to this insane little event, right after it was pulled out, everyone saw that there was no wound, even his clothes looked fine.

Dante twirled the sword around to flick some blood that got on it. He cracked his left shoulder a few times. "Damn, that was actually a pretty decent hit right there. Kinda reminds me of a wild party I was at when I was 16." He looked at Takashi and the smirk on his face grew a little larger. "Now then kid, time to return the favor."

Before anyone could even speak, Dante executed his Stinger. He slid across the ground at an incredible speed, sword extended forward. It was too fast for Takashi to dodge and before he knew it, the blade had skewered him right through the heart.

Dante stopped and lifted Rebellion high into the air, Takashi right on the point of it, pain etched on his face. He let out some groans that was followed with blood being coughed up. Everyone looked on in horror, Takashi's friends being the ones who were feeling it the most.

"Good thing we're in a pretty open area, otherwise Lady would be bitching at me to clean up all the blood I got on the walls or something," Dante remarked as he lowered Takashi to the ground and pulled the sword upwards, tearing right through Takashi's left shoulder. Takashi let loose a roar of pain and collapsed to the ground, but as he got back up, he brought his hand up to the spot where he was cut and his slowly widened as he realized something. There was no wound. He slowly stood up as if nothing much had happened, exposing this startling revelation everyone present.

Despite seeing him skewered like a pig and cut through the shoulder, despite all the blood he has on his clothes, there wasn't a single scratch on him.

Dante turned to Saya and chuckled. "So kid, tell me. This enough proof for you?"

And there it is! Sorry it took so long to get it done, some things came up, but I hope that this was to your liking.

Things are going to start heating up real too. I can guarantee that!

Hope you enjoyed it and please leave a review.


	8. Chapter 8

Ah, finally done with all of those damn essays! For the past week or two, I've had to do about three or four essays and two of them had me busting my ass to get sources for and then edit them a few times before I had them done. Damn, sure hope I don't have to do any more essays for awhile after Winter Break.

Anyway, enough with my whining. Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy! I know I'm happy now that those essays are done.

Chapter 8

Takashi, Rei and the others along with Saya's parents sat down in various places in a huge room. All of them stared at Dante and Lady who sat across from them, both of whom seemed to ignore the tense atmosphere in the room.

Takashi wore new clothes, a black long sleeve shirt and blue jeans, that fit his lean muscular frame better as his school clothes, which he had been wearing from when the outbreak occurred at school up until his fight with Dante were coated with blood. He stared down at the floor, a shocked expression on his face.

Every now and then, he'd rub the spot where Dante's sword had stabbed him, almost wishing that he actually had an injury of some kind there, even if the injury were fatal, anything to make him feel as if he were normal.

Everyone else though, with the exception of Rei, had all of their attention on the colorfully dressed duo before them. They were all feeling almost as shocked as Takashi. It wasn't every day that you see someone get skewered and find out a not even a minute later that there isn't a wound when there clearly should have been.

Dante and Lady on the other hand didn't feel as tense as them. Far from it in fact as Dante returned their stare with an obvious look of boredom on his face. He came here to talk with the kid, not sit before a group of people like someone before a jury. Lady stared at them as well, but her gaze was more analytical as she sized them up, wondering how good they were at defending themselves. Sure the fact that the teenagers made it from their school to here was a sign of their skill, but she would like to see them in action.

Dante sighed. "Alright, could you stop with the looks already? It's starting to creep me out a bit," he said, ending the silence.

Souichirou's eyes narrowed as he mulled over how to respond. When he brought them all to the room after the fight, he had intended to have some men placed alongside the walls, but knew that it would be pointless given Dante's strength and skill. He wasn't the head of a nationalist group for nothing. "Why did you attack him?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

Souichirou didn't need to tell them who he meant. Dante sighed. "Like I told your daughter, I was just doing it for proof."

Saya had told Souichirou what Dante and Lady approached them for before coming to the room. Souichirou's eyes narrowed even more. "Demons?"

He stared at the duo, but unlike anyone else, they didn't even flinch at his gaze. Instead Dante observed the others, feeling a bit more interested in what they were feeling. Rei was still keeping close to Takashi, Saya sat next to her parents, Kohta was next to her, and Shizuka and Alice stood alongside Saeko, who also happened to be on the other side of Takashi.

As Dante took note of their worried expressions - or in Saya's and Saeko's case, an angry one - he couldn't help but notice the curvaceous, well endowed figures of the girls. It amazed him at how big their breasts were especially for girls that were still in high school, the exception being Shizuka, whom he couldn't help but think that she had to have a lot of cosmetic work done to look that way. To think that those massive breasts were all natural would be crazy even by his standards and that's saying something.

"Christ, either japanese girls has some damn good genetics or they're doing something that american girls aren't," he thought.

He looked at Souichirou again after dragging his mind away from his thoughts and could tell that he was expected to answer soon if he didn't want to cause some trouble. Well, more than he already has anyway. Dante spared a glance at Lady, who leveled a glare of her own as if to say "you caused this, you fix it."

Dante sighed. "Yeah, demons."

"You will have to explain it more than that," Souichirou seemed to growl out.

"Look, I can tell from the way your daughter reacted to what I said that you're just as skeptical too, but trust me, demons exist," Dante said, trying to be as polite as possible. Now that he's done what he has wanted to check out, he didn't exactly have any plans to get into more fights. He's satisfied as it is fighting demons. "Now you saw what the kid did to me and what I did to him. You gotta admit that it has to be supernatural."

He didn't get a reaction from Souichirou or anyone else. Lady sighed at how bad Dante was at explaining things so she felt that it would be best if she took over. "Have you ever heard of Sparda?" she asked, figuring that it might be wise to start with that first.

Surprisingly, the name made Souichirou raise an eyebrow out of curiosity. "Sparda? You speak of the legendary dark knight?"

Everyone turned to him, even Takashi as the name snapped him out of his stupor. "Who's Sparda?" Kohta asked.

"Let me make this short. Sparda was a demon that rebelled against his own kind 2000 years ago when the emperor of them, Mundus, attempted to take over this world. Sparda managed to defeat Mundus and his minions, after which he sealed the demon world away, losing his power in the process. After that, Sparda lived here in the human world," Lady explained "to put it in a nutshell". She waited for them to start rolling their eyes and laugh, but to her surprise they didn't. To the contrary, some of them looked intrigued.

Saeko, Souichirou, and his wife all seemed to ponder something. Saya and Kohta appeared to do the same as well while Shizuka was still being her ditzy self with Alice looking amazed at the very short tale. Rei was confused, wondering what the tale had to do with this other than Sparda being a demon. Takashi however, looked shocked as if he had seen a ghost.

Takashi's expression didn't go unnoticed by Dante or Lady. They knew that something was up. "Don, it seemed as if you've heard of Sparda before," Lady pointed out. "Care to tell us?"

Souichirou looked up at her for a moment. "For ages, there have been stories that hundreds of years ago, a man by that name had helped invent the way of the sword that I abide by," he said.

Dante cocked an eyebrow. "You serious?" he asked. He almost face-palmed himself. "Ha, leave to good ol' dad to go everywhere back in the day," he muttered. Dante couldn't help but wonder just how many places his father had gone to and what kind of legacies he had left in the process. Next he'll know, he'll be heading out to the Himalayas and find out Sparda killed Bigfoot or whoever is said to roam around there.

They all perked up at what Dante said. "Your father? You are Sparda's son?" Souichirou asked.

"Wait, you mean he really existed?" Kohta asked.

Dante sighed for what he felt had to be the hundredth time since this whole mess started. "Yeah, ya caught me, I'm the son of a devil," he replied to them sarcastically.

"This still doesn't explain why you attacked Komuro-kun," Saeko said as she focused her attention on Dante. Inwardly, she was as shocked as everyone. Sparda really existed? Having been trained in the same way as her father and as Souichirou, she had heard of Sparda as well, but to think that he was real was more than surprising. And to be more or less face to face with his son was another shock. Of course, in her mind, there was still a chance he was lying.

"Come on, just take a look at the kid," Dante pointed at Takashi, "can't you see a little resemblance to me?" And he was right. They both had the same hair and eye color, similar lean muscular builds and maybe if Takashi changed his hairstyle to look like Dante's, he'd likely look like a mini-Dante.

Rei suddenly stood up. "Are you saying that Takashi is somehow related to you?" she nearly yelled. She was feeling a bit more than frustrated. First, the outbreak at school, Hisashi is killed, followed only by equally mind scarring incidents like her nearly being taken by that creep at the gas station, not to mention all of the other events that have occurred until now and now here was someone that was implying that he might Takashi's long lost relative or some shit.

Dante looked at her and she grew a bit afraid of his stare. He mulled over something. "Maybe, but I really don't know."

This made the room fall silent once more. Everyone started to wonder if there really was some kind of relation between the two. It wasn't unlikely given their similar appearances and, although no one will admit it, something about how they survived fatal wounds seemed to only prove this thought rather than disprove it.

Takashi looked back down at the ground. The name Sparda has stirred something in him, bringing back to him the dream he had in the car. Was he really related to Dante? Or was it merely a coincidence? But more importantly, should he mention his dream?

He looked at everyone then at Dante and Lady who eyed him in return. Takashi took a deep breath, his mind now made up. "When I was attacked by that... thing," he said, not being able to use the word demon instead, "I lost consciousness, naturally and I... had this dream..." he trailed off.

Takashi took another look and saw that all eyes were on him. Rei and the others were shocked as he expected them to be; he didn't tell them any of this since he didn't want them to worry or anything. "In my dream I saw this guy. He looked like you," he gestured to Dante, "only his hair was swept back and he had on a purple coat instead of a red one like you... he wouldn't happen to be this Sparda guy you talked about?"

Dante and Lady, for once, looked surprised. They didn't expect something like this, but they quickly recovered from this. "Yeah, that's Sparda. Heh, I can practically see him in that damn coat of his," Dante remarked.

"So I really am related to you?" Takashi asked. He felt that it had to be true now. After all there's really no way of denying it if the man in his dream really was Sparda. There's only so much that can happen before something goes from being labeled as coincidence to being true.

Dante leaned back. "Guess so." He surveyed Takashi for the moment. "How old are you kid?"

"I'm 17," Takashi answered.

"Well then you can't be a long-lost brother because I'm 29 and dad died before I was 10," Dante replied.

Everyone looked on at the two, not really sure of what to say; things were just becoming too much for them to handle now. "So then what? Am I like a distant cousin or something?" Takashi asked.

Dante thought about it. "I guess. The old man must have had a fling way before he met my mom and his blood must have past down all the way to you." That was the only thing that made sense to him and from how things have been for Takashi, it seemed like he was right.

Silence once again overcame them. Things were now really moving too fast. First, Dante had attacked Takashi and now here they are practically examining an imaginary family tree.

However, the conversation was cut short as one of Souichirou's men entered the room. "Don, we have more survivors," he said, obviously pleased that more people have endured the outbreak.

Everyone stood up at this and Rei, Takashi, and Kohta moved towards the window to see. As they looked outside the first thing they saw was a bus coming through the gates. They froze as they recognized it.

A look of anger appeared on Rei's face and before Takashi could do anything, she bolted out the room. "Rei!"

Dante and Lady looked confused at this. "What's eating her?"

Saeko, Kohta, and Saya didn't reply and instead dragged Shizuka and Alice out the room with them. Dante and Lady shared a look and followed them alongside Souichirou.

Outside, Shidou had just parked the bus and got off, being greeted by a guard. "Who would have thought that the son of Shidou the politician would be helping people even at a time like this! Well, we won't be having any elections with things as they are now."

Shidou did a little bow. "That doesn't matter to me. I'm merely a humble teacher." He was soaking up the praise. After having put a considerable distance between the bus and those things, he had felt out of it. He'd never seen anything like them, it was as if they were something out of a gruesome movie. It had taken quite some time to compose himself and calm the students and the praise he was now receiving was just what he needed to really lift his spirits.

"Truly honorable! That you brought along surviving students with you when you escaped from the school!" the guard said.

"Of course, it's a teacher's duty," Shidou replied with a twisted smirk. The guard didn't notice this.

"I should have expected as much from someone brought up by a man like your father!" This comment from the guard set Shidou off.

"I'd have to disagree with you on that," he thought as memories of his father running for cabinet minister flooded his mind, along with how he had studied to become a teacher as his father campaigned only to find out that his younger brother would be the one to succeed his father. He remembered how he had burned with rage yet never directly confronted his father, instead doing everything he was demanded to do even when it hurt other such as when he held Rei back a year as a way to punish her dad as a favor to his father.

"I know that things are difficult here as well, but can you at least help these poor students? I'm fine on my own..." he trailed off as he heard approaching footsteps.

"You're a real saint, aren't you, Shidou-sensei," Rei said as she stood to his side, gun drawn at him, the knife attached to the tip of the barrel merely inches away from Shidou's face.

He broke out in a sweat as the students from the bus got off and looked on in shock. "M-Miyamoto-san, I'm so glad you're alive and well..."

"Do you know how I got so good at soujutsu? It's because I was instructed in the use of the bayonet! And I learned that from my father who had never known failure in the prefectural police!" Rei said angrily, "he suffered because of you. He's the kind of person who can take anything, but he was brought to tears as he asked for my forgiveness. It's all your fault that I was held back a year!"

Takashi and the others quickly approached as Rei continued her outburst. "And I've known it all along! You were the only one managing the grades! But I took it! My dad told me that if his investigation went well, he could have arrested you and your father! But... now..."

She moved the knife closer and closer until it drew a little blood. "A-are you going to become a murderer? Do you, the daughter of a police officer, intend to become a criminal?"

As this occurred, everyone finally caught up and they stood by and watched, uncertain of whether or not to interfere. Dante and Lady were the only ones though that thought they shouldn't bother. The second they laid their eyes on the guy, they knew almost instinctively that he was a real psycho, the look in his eyes was proof enough. He was a manipulative son of a bitch that they thought resembled Lady's equally deranged father, Arkham. The only thing this Shidou guy has that Arkham doesn't is a head of hair.

"I... I don't want to hear anything more from you!" Rei cried out.

"Then kill him!" This startled them and they turned to see Souichirou walk up to them. "I know that man's father! However, that means nothing now! If it is what you want, then kill him!"

People had gathered around to witness and some of them, the ones from earlier who thought they could help Them began to shout out protests. "How can you..." one began, but was cut off by Souichirou.

"Of course." This short statement alone made them back off. "If I had reason to, I would do it myself!"

Takashi was about to stop Rei, but Saeko placed a hand on his forearm to stop him. "Miyamoto-kun has to make this decision on her own."

"Yeah kid, just let your little girlfriend do this her way. The little fucktard probably deserves it anyway," Dante said as he walked up next to him.

"This is something that we really don't have a place in interfering. Besides, from just one glance it's obvious this Shidou is nothing but scum," Lady also remarked.

Shidou backed up a bit and spread his arms out wide as if to welcome Rei. "Go ahead... kill me! Kill me, take my life away. You're free to go down that painful path! Me being a teacher and you being a student, that would be an appropriate learning experience!"

Rei stood perfectly still, the knife still close to Shidou's face. Everyone held their breath as moments passed by with nothing happening. However, slowly, but surely, Rei lowered the gun and turned away from Shidou. "Is that what you think? You're not even worth killing," she said as she walked away.

Shidou grew infuriated by this. "Good show! Souichirou exclaimed with a short laugh.

"You have no idea what I went through to make it this far... little swine like you just keep their mouths shut and..." Shidou muttered, but everyone could hear him. He looked at Rei and all he saw was red. In his mind, he felt that he had things the worst, that he's endured things that they couldn't begin to understand.

He began to move towards Rei, slowly at first, but picking up the pace the further he moved. He nearly broke out into a run at her and was just a few feet away from Rei when he stopped suddenly as he felt two different metals placed at his face.

Dante stood to his side, Rebellion being held almost lazily at Shidou's neck, barely breaking the skin while Lady was in front of him, machine gun drawn and pressing hard up against his forehead.

"I'm pretty sure the little lady said for you to pretty much fuck off, ya Charles Manson piece of shit," Dante said in cold tone.

"Back off if you don't want me to put an entire clip of bullets in your head," Lady said just as icily.

Shidou didn't move at first, feeling completely petrified by these two people. He's never seen them before and he know from the way they spoke that he'd go through real hell at their hands if he didn't do what they said. Quickly succumbing to his cowardly nature, he backed away.

"You leave!" Souichirou said, quite impressed by Dante's and Lady's speed and their way of stopping Shidou. "You over that as well," he continued, pointing to Shidou's students, " you have already been tainted by this man's dastardy! You should cleanse youselves, but for now we do not have any open space! Leave here in the bus you to us in!"

"Do you think that was wrong?" Saya's mother asked Takashi as the students obeyed Souichirou's order.

"I can't say that I'm happy about it, but if I was in Don Takagi's place... I don't know what I would've done. Sorry," Takashi replied.

Souichriou overheard him as he walked past. "I respect that kind of thought, but things are not going to change back to how they once were! If you want to stay alive, remember that."

"Yes, sir," Takashi replied reluctantly, not sure how he should be feeling about all this. So much was going on all at once that he really didn't know how to feel let alone what to think or do.

Dante whistled. "Gotta hand it to the guy, he knows his stuff."

Takashi ignored him and went to Rei. "Hey..."

He barely got that word out before she turned on him. "Don't try to console me. I hate that! That's what you always do! I even wanted to ask for your help with Shidou so I talked to Hisashi instead about it... it's difficult. Everything is so difficult." She wiped away a few tears she had in her eyes. "But... it doesn't matter. It's over now."

She smiled now. "That time is finished. Now we only have the future ahead of us! Even though it looks like it's going to be hard."

While that went on, the others were several feet away watching them until Alice turned and looked up at Shizuka. "Sensei, weren't you going to call someone?" she asked, remembering that when they all headed to the room to talk alone with Dante and Lady, Shizuka had remembered a friend's phone number, but since everyone was so focused on the weapons toting duo, they didn't listen to her.

"Oh yeah!" she exclaimed, much to Shidou's displeasure as he quickly drove the bus out the gates. "Komuro-kun, phone, phone!"

Takashi, confused by this handed her his cell phone anyway. Shizuka held the phone up close for a moment. "Let's see here, 1 is here, 2 is here, 3 is here..."

They all sweatdropped a bit at her childish attitude. Dante on the other hand snickered, finding it hard to believe how Shizuka can act like this despite her age and appearance. "Do you want me to dial for you?" Kohta asked.

"Don't interrupt me or I might lose my place," Shizuka replied with a smile. Several seconds past before she finally finished dialing and it began to ring. A few more seconds past before someone answered.

"Rika, you're alive!" Shizuka shouted in joy. "Me too, but we've been through an awful lot."

Everyone smiled, Takashi and Dante more so than the others since they could actually hear the person on the other end of the call with their heightened hearing. "We had to leave there! Oh, we borrowed some of your weapons and things..." she said, referring to when they stayed at her friend's place for awhile to rest up.

However, before she could continue, a bright light suddenly appeared in the sky and the call ended. Shizuka looked at the phone in shock. "Hello? Rika?"

Everyone look up at the sky, all of them falling into a stupor at the light. No way, no how, did any of them see this coming. Takashi shivered. He had a feeling that things were about to take a turn for the worst.

Near the blockade that Shidou had driven through earlier to get the mansion, two guys were yelling about something."Hey, why did you stop?" a guy said to another man driving a forklift around the mansion, moving things around.

"The engine...!" he shouted in surprise.

As they argued, they didn't notice Shidou driving the bus towards them. Shidou was also experiencing some engine trouble. "I can't believe the engine would stall at a time like this. What the hell is going on here?" he said aloud.

One of his students got up out of her seat and moved towards Shidou, fear in her eyes. "Sensei! Look out! Look out!"

Shidou looked up just in time for a look of terror to appear on his face as the bus collided with the forklift, killing the two guys in the process. The bus continued on past that and knocked over a good portion of the blockade, the windows bashed in with most of the students nearly outcold from the force of the collision.

"Uh... what in the world?" Shidou began to say, but stopped as he looked up and fell deathly silent as he saw one of Them walk past the bus. Then another walked past. And another. And another until a whole swarm has appeared. And little did any of the students or nearby guards knew, a large group comprised of Scarecrows, a few Mega Scarecrows, and two Assaults followed the small army of Them, keeping back far enough as to not be noticed yet.

And all of them were heading directly for the mansion.

And there we go! The eighth chapter is done.

I was worried that it would haven taken longer to get this done, but I soon got into my groove (by listening to rock music of course to give me an energy boost) to get this done. oh and as for Dante's age, that was a guess on my part since it looked as if he were in his mid- to late- twenties in DMC4.

I hope you all enjoyed this and are looking forward to the next chapter because I can tell one thing right now and that's that the next chapter is going to be one hell of a party.

However, I am going to be working on a new one-shot so I won't be working on the next chapter for this or my other fic for some time. But I do hope the upcoming action and gore will make up for it.

Thanks for reading and please leave a review.

Oh, and Merry Christmas! Hope you enjoy the holiday!


	9. Chapter 9

Ah man, I'm sorry it took this long to get this chapter up guys, but school has been a real pain in the ass lately, making me do all this fieldwork for a final essay that all us seniors are doing (to anyone reading this that's in college, do you have to do fieldwork for your essays?).

The good thing is, that once the next week or two pass by, things will calm down and I can focus a bit more on my fics so that's something I'm looking forward to.

And thank you to you all for reviewing this fic. It really makes me happy to know that you enjoy it.

Here's the next chapter. Hope you continue to enjoy it.

Chapter 9

One by one, more and more of Them walked past the now destroyed barricade that had held them back before. As they slowly advanced down the street, the men that had been near the barricade had ran down the street and back to the mansion, with the exception of one who informed a member of Souichirou's group, a guard, what happened. "The engine stalled and there was an accident! Thanks to that, we couldn't put the barricade back up!"

The guard immediately took out his cell phone to call the mansion, but to his shock, it didn't work. "Shit! My cell phone isn't working either! Go tell someone what's happened!" he yelled at the man before taking aim with his shotgun at the approaching undead. "Die, you bastards!"

The man next to him just looked at Them and began to seriously panic. "I can't stay here!" That said, he took off as if the devil was after him, something that he couldn't exactly be blamed for doing. Well, except the guard who had some words for the fleeing man.

"Don't run away! Are you not a man?" he shouted, glancing back at him for a brief second.

Meanwhile, back at the mansion, confusion began to break out amongst the people as some men tried to start up their vehicles while a woman cried out for help. It seemed that her husbands pacemaker has stopped working. Others reported that the computers have suffered the same fate as the other electronics.

Shizuka stood with the others, holding out Takashi's cell phone to him with a few tears in her eyes. "Komuro-kun... your phone... it's broke. I don't know if it's my fault," she said as she handed it to him.

"What?" he muttered as he tried to see what was wrong with it. It was dead. He cursed under his breathe.

"How could that happen?" Saya thought.

"What's wrong, Saya-san?" Kohta asked, taking in everything with a calm, calculating glance. Dante and Lady stood next to him doing the same thing.

"None of your business! You stay there!" Saya replied.

"Was that light what I think it is?" Lady asked Dante.

Dante looked off into the distance, seeming to ignore her almost. Lady was about to ask again when he answered. "Something happened." He tensed up a bit. Dante had this feeling that something big was about to go down.

Saya walked up to Rei. "Miyamoto, try aiming with your gun's dot aim."

Rei looked at her, confused. "What? Why?"

"Just do it! Can you see the dot?" Saya nearly shouted.

"Let's see..." Rei took aim, Saya quickly moving out of the way as it was pointing at her. "No, I can't see it."

Saya quickly turned to Souichirou. "Papa! We need to change our plans! This is probably-,"

She was cut off by a yell. "They're coming!" The guy from the barricade came running through the open gate. "Don't come this way! Don't come this way!"

That was when they saw Them. A few of Them appeared right behind the guy, reaching out and successfully grabbing him by his clothes and head. The guy fell down with Them on top of him. No mercy was shown as three of Them began to eat him alive, ripping out chunks of his body and head with their rotting teeth. It wasn't before long that they got down to the muscle tissue and bone.

"Close the gate! Quickly! Defense unit, assemble! Do not let any of the dead in!" Souichirou commanded in a loud, but calm voice.

"Don! Are we just going to abandon the people who are still out there?" one of his men asked.

Souichirou drew his sword. "If we do not close it now we will lose everything! Do it!"

The guard pulled out the remote to close the gate, but as he quickly pressed down on the button, it became obvious that it wasn't working. He swore and immediately commanded for those closer to the gate to shut.

The men quickly complied, but they found the chore quite hard as the undead were relentless in trying to get past. Even as the gate shut, the walking corpses reached in between the bars, grabbing at the air.

One of Them then somehow managed to squeeze its way through the bars, breaking one of its arms in the process. "One of Them got in!" the man near the gate cried.

"Wh-why are you just sitting there? You have a gun so hurry up and kill it!" the woman that had gather up those people bent on finding a cure for Them cried out.

Kohta sat there, taking aim with his rifle. "I have one... in my pocket," he sang in a creepy voice. However, right when he was about to take the shot, a gunshot rang out close by and the one that got through fell backwards as blood and some of its brains spurted out from a hole in its head. Kohta turned to see Lady holding a smoking pistol in her hand. "Remind me not to get on her bad side," he muttered. To shoot one of Them from that distance with a pistol was pretty damn scary, especially since she didn't seem to have been trying. Although it did make him slightly giddy to see that there was someone as good as him, if not better than him, at shooting.

A man ran up to Souichirou and his wife. "Don, milady, I have some weapons for you!"

As soon as she was handed the gun, Yuriko threw off the veil that she always wrapped over her shoulders and ripped off a good portion of the lower part of her dress, pretty much exposing all of her shapely legs and if one looked carefully enough, a part of her panties was visible. Combined with the way her dress clung a bit to her ample breasts and they found themselves looking at one hot, armed woman.

Dante let out a wolf whistle, Lady looked annoyed at Dante, while Takashi blushed, wondering to himself if it was really necessary for her to remove so much. Saya blocked Kohta's eyes while looking a bit ready to cry from embarrassment at Yuriko's actions.

"I'm all ready. Are you, Souichirou-san?" she asked her husband.

"Yes, I am. But I... have no use for a gun!" he replied.

"Yes, dear," she replied back with a smile. She turned to face her daughter. "You use it, Saya-chan," she said as she held the gun out to her.

"A luger p08 with a stock and a drum magazine," Kohta said aloud, drooling in glee at the weapon.

Saya look flustered as she accepted the gun. "I don't know how to use this thing! And why do you have a gun?"

"Back when I was working on Wall Street, I took a self-defense course for executives. I might even be a better shot than your father," Yuriko explained.

"Judging from grumpy's attitude about guns, I think the kid is a better shot than him," Dante muttered.

Yuriko ignored Dante's remark at her husband. "Could you teach her how to shoot it, Hirano-kun?"

"Of course!" Kohta responded a bit too enthusiastically.

"... So why are the cell phones and cars breaking down now? It was after that weird light." With this statement from Takashi, who was observing Them stuck behind the gate, everyone began to focus again on the matter at hand.

"It was an e.m.p blast!" Saya replied. "It was a T.H.A.N.E. a high-,"

"Altitude Nuclear Explosion," Lady butted in, angering Saya for cutting her off. "If a nuclear missile detonates high enough, gamma rays overload the air molecules with electrons, causing what is known as compton scattering. The high speed electrons are caught in the earth's magnetic field and are discharged over a large radius, causing an electromagnetic pulse."

"Right," Saya said curtly after Lady finished explaining, "and that's fatal to electronic equipment! The electromagnetic pulse goes through the antenna and burns out the integrated circuits!"

"So in other words..." Saeko began.

"Right, we can't use any electronic equipment," Saya replied.

Rei was definitely not pleased by this. "What? So cell phones and stuff don't work anymore?" she yelled.

"Everything from cell phones to computers is totally useless now! Automobiles that use electronics won't move either. And the power plants are most likely dead as well. If actions had been taken to counter e.m.p.'s then it would be different, but I think only a small part of the self-defense force and government agencies are made for that," Saya explained.

Takashi sighed as he swept a hand through his hair. "Great, so in other words, we have nothing going for us now," he muttered. He couldn't help but think that things were only going to get worse now that electronics don't work and he had a feeling that something like that will be happening very soon. The undead still trying to get through the gate attested to that feeling.

"Is there a way to fix the broken equipment?" Souichirou addressed his daughter.

"If we replaced the fried parts, then we might be able to get the cars working again. There's still the possibility that some cars didn't get affected too badly by the electromagnetic waves so those would still work. Of course, classic cars still work," Saya said.

Souichirou turned to one of his men. "Look into that as soon as possible," he commanded, getting the man to reply in the affirmative before turning back to face Saya. "Saya!"

She didn't expect him to suddenly yell like that. "Wh-what is it?"

"You have managed to keep your head even in this chaos. I commend you!" he said to her, earning a startled expression from Saya. She didn't know how to react; this had to be the first time her father has ever praised her.

Souichirou quickly turned around to examine the gate, which was beginning to fail in holding back Them. The man by the gate tried to keep it closed, but his strength alone couldn't possibly help to stop the combined weight of Them from crushing the gate.

The gate was knocked down now, unable to bear the abuse any longer and a dozen of Them fell with it only to give way to more, which wasted no time in ganging up on the close by man. He fell to the ground, crying out for everyone to run. Those were the last words he spoke as the zombies bite into him, ripping his very flesh from his bones. As slow as they are when moving, they made up for it with their merciless biting as the man's body was soon ripped apart by their rotten teeth.

It didn't take long for Them to move about the area, going after anyone that attracted their attention. One of the people that was targeted by Them was the woman who had so eagerly boasted of forming a group to try and help Them. Takashi and the others only watched as she picked up a butcher knife and viciously chopped away at one of the zombies before her, tearing through the weakened and rotting skin of its face, working the blade past the equally rotting muscle tissue. She didn't get the chance to continue though as she was easily overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Them.

"Papa, we should get into the house -," Saya began only to be cut off by her father.

"Our goal is to defend ourselves! They broke through the metal gate. Even if we went into the house, they would break in and we would be eaten!" he exclaimed. His men immediately began to arm themselves and the faster ones were able to run forward and crush in the skulls of the shambling undead. One of them went up to Souichirou to report the possibility of being able to reclaim the gate.

With a nod of his head, Souichirou shouted out his orders. "Our targets are those that have broken through! Men who can fight, prepare yourselves! Women and children who want to survive, get in back!" He then turned his head to look at Takashi, who merely observed his actions. "You have your filial peity, do you not, Komuro-kun? It is time that you went on your way!"

"Yes, sir," Takashi replied with some hesitation.

"Hirano-kun, I entrust my daughter to you," Souichirou said to Kohta right after Takashi spoke.

Saya was surprised to say the least when she heard that. "Papa! What the hell do you mean by that?" She was thrown for a serious loop when her mother slapped her suddenly. Saya caressed her hurt cheek in shock at the stern expression on Yuriko's face.

"Souichirou-san and I have a role to play, Saya-chan. Having you in the care of Hirano-kun, Komuro-kun, and the others is one thing that we as your parents want for you! Don't think for a second that it doesn't kill us inside to do this. Please don't make us suffer anymore!" She cried. "Just go!"

Everyone was quiet at her words, even Dante had a look of seriousness about him. After all, he can understand where Saya's parents were coming from as they somewhat reminded him of his own deceased parents.

"Auntie..." Alice spoke as she came closer to Yuriko.

Yuriko bent down to face the girl. "You're a good girl. Auntie's daughter is a good girl too... listen to your brothers and sisters."

Saya just observed the touching moment before speaking. "Papa! Mama!" When she had their attention, she cried out her final words. "I love you!" And with that she took off as her mother and even her father smiled.

Souichirou faced the incoming zombies. "Throw the dynamite!" he ordered. Not even three seconds later, a huge explosion rang out as his men complied, blowing many of Them sky high.

"What are you doing? C'mon!" Saya said as she passed by Takashi and Dante.

Shizuka protested, wanting to wait for the others while Kohta just stood around wondering how they were going to leave. However, as that thought crossed his mind, he remembered seeing a prototype of a military vehicle earlier. Saya smirked a bit at she the realization on his face.

They made their way to the garage and found one of the many men under Souichirou's command, a man by the name of Matsuda finishing up the car. He seemed to know what they were thinking. "I've looked through it a few times and it all seems to be good. The electronic parts and battery cables are all isolated. It's good to go!"

"But, what are you going to do?" Dante had to ask. One look at the vehicle told him that all of them were not going to fit.

"The woman I'm in love with is here with everyone else," he simply explained. As Saya got into the back of the vehicle with Rei, who had caught up with Alice, Matsuda addressed her. "Milady Saya. Go with good health!"

"I'm always in good health," Saya said with a sad smile.

Dante stood alongside the vehicle with Takashi and Kohta. Lady was in the backseat, squished alongside Rei, Alice, Saeko, and Saya. "First things first, make a path for the damn car," Dante said with a grin. He said this with justified reason as while Souichirou and his men did take down a good number of Them, more were still around to block the way and more just kept on coming.

He picked up Rebellion and performed his Round Trip move, launching the huge sword at the very top of one of the undead's head. It sliced right throw the top part of the skull, the bone mixing with the blood and brain matter that flew out from the force of the throw. And as most of Them were around the same height as the one he aimed at, they were suffered the same fate.

Dante snapped his fingers and Rebellion spun back towards him, much to everyone's surprise, except for Lady. He turned to face Takashi and Kohta. "Come on guys, it's about time we had ourselves a little party before we go," he said before walking up to the huge crowd of zombies. He punched one casually in the face, crushing it entirely. The zombie fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

This signaled Kohta to take aim with his rifle and put down several of Them with a shot to the skull. Takashi ran up to join Dante and kicked a zombie back with devastating force. It flew back into other zombies and skidded along with them for several yards before stopping. Its head was crushed underfoot by Souichirou as he made his way forward towards the gate with his wife and men at his side. Dante whistled as he watched Souichirou cut down three of Them with a single, well aimed slash from his katana.

And so it continued after that, Kohta shooting down Them while Dante and Takashi would use their fists to cave in the heads of the ones that Kohta didn't shoot. It wasn't long before they cleared a path for the car to go through, albeit a path littered with the bodies of Them. Shizuka reeved up the car. "Come on!" she cried for the guys to hear. Kohta quickly got in and they took off to get Dante and Takashi.

The two saw the car coming and before Shizuka could slow down, both jumped on without a word. They drove past the remaining Them and eventually out of the gate.

Yuriko watched as the car drove out of sight. "Have they gone?" Souichirou asked.

"Yes. Our daughter is in the company of young friends who care about her," she replied.

Souichirou smirked despite he and Yuriko being surrounded by Them. "I regret nothing!" he yelled happily as he and his wife once again took up their weapons against the approaching zombie crowd.

Now outside the mansion are, Takashi and the others drove past the ruined barricade and Shidou's flipped bus. There were no signs of him or his twisted students, a fact that didn't seem to bother the group. It wasn't as if they actually cared if the bastard died.

Unfortunately, they didn't get very far. "Hey babe, stop the car," Dante said.

Shizuka blushed at being called a babe so casually, but she did as he said. She may be a ditz, but she knew from the fight he had with Takashi earlier that he knew what he was talking about in life and death situations.

"What is it?" Kohta asked him nervously. He wasn't very comfortable being around the guy regardless of what he had said to them after the fight.

Dante chuckled a bit. "Looks like we have some late guests."

No one was able to question him on what the hell that meant when Takashi spoke. "Oh shit," was all he said. His reasoning for why he said that was revealed as they heard a loud roar that sent shivers up some of their spines.

Out of nowhere it seemed, two Assaults appeared. They crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, kicking up dirt. One of them let out another roar and several Scarecrows slowly made their way from past the corners of the street.

"Heh, looks like they were waiting for us to leave the mansion," Dante said with a smirk. He climbed off the car and as soon as he did, one of the Assaults launched itself at the car, more specifically Shizuka and Takashi, who sat in the front seats.

Takashi reacted almost automatically once he saw that it seemed to be aiming for him more than Shizuka. He threw himself out of the car as well and met the Assault in the air. A cracking sound could be heard as they collided and they fell to the ground.

The Assault was the first to get up and whacked Takashi hard with its shield, knocking him back past the car. It then jumped high into the air and came crashing down, intent to stomp on him. Takashi, although a little more than groggy from the hit, saw it coming and wasted no time in rolling out of the way. He jumped to his feet and threw a punch only for the Assault to raise its shield.

His fist made contact with it and he let out a grunt as his fist began to hurt. Takashi didn't know what kind of material the shield it's made out of, but it sure was tough to say the least. His opponent went for a swipe with its other arm, its claws poised to tear him to bits with a single hit, but Takashi got in close and slammed both arms into the Assault's elbow joint. It stopped the attack and hurt it a bit, but also enraged it.

However, the short tussle between the two ended aruptedly when Dante ran behind the Assault and sliced its head clean off with Rebellion. A green liquid of sorts spurted out of the stump for a second before the body fell to the ground. He flicked his sword to get the green blood off. "Looks like you aren't ready just yet to be hanging with one of these bad boys," Dante remarked, smirk still on his face.

The other Assault roared in rage at its fallen comrade and now charged at the duo. The Scarecrows shambled along with it as a Mega Scarecrow made its appearance. Rei and Saeko had just gotten out of the car and gaped a bit at the size of the Mega Scarecrow, but quickly got ready to take on the Scarecrows while the Assault went to take revenge on Dante and Takashi. Kohta moved into the front of the car and loaded his rifle, getting ready to give support to the girls. Lady got out of the care as well and moved up next to Saeko, the Kalina Ann in her hands.

Dante looked back at them for a second. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit at how they got ready for a fight so quickly. "All right, let's get this started!" he cried as he held Rebellion at the ready. Takashi, standing next to him, couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was wise of him to be fighting alongside a possibly insane comrade.

And done! Hmm, well it turned out a bit different than I planned as I had intended for it to be longer, with the group fighting the small army of demons, but then I thought that it'd be better to do that in the next chapter so that I can really draw out the fight (without making it too long of course).

Anyway, sorry if I disappointed some of you for ending on a cliffhanger like that, but I hope you still liked the chapter.

I should be getting the next chapter done within the next few weeks. And don't forget to review!


	10. Chapter 10

Whew, man starting a club as part of my Senior Project sure is tiresome. Just when I thought I might be able to get more members, the first two meetings didn't exactly yield favorable results so that was a disappointment. Can only imagine how long it'll be before my club actually lifts off. In the end though, things should be turning out relatively well and so I'm not complaining. At least until the next part of the fieldwork comes along.

I would also like to apologize for the long wait. School really came down kinda hard on me with the Senior Project stuff.

Here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 10

The Assault charged straight at Dante, its intention to take revenge completely obvious. Dante chuckled as he readied Rebellion. "Bring it!" He shouted almost happily. He executed his Drive move, the intense wave shooting out at an incredible speed. However, despite its size, the Assault is quite agile and leapt to the left to avoid the attack.

The demon then fired what looked like spikes at Dante, but he merely whipped out Ivory and shot the projectiles out of the air with complete ease. The Assault moved in, having used the split second in which Dante dealed with its attack, to get in close and try to smash Dante's head in with its shield.

Dante smirked and he took a step back to avoid it and then promptly kicked the Assault away, his boot making a heavy thud as it rammed into the demon's stomach. It roared in pain from the hit, but it made a quick recovery, flipping over in the air before it could crash. Before the Assault could once again charge at Dante though, the devil hunter unloaded a dozen rounds from his guns into its chest, forcing it back.

"If you want to see your buddy again, don't worry. You'll be with him in hell pretty soon," Dante said. True to his word, Dante did the demon in with his Stinger, Rebellion piercing the Assault's heart before it could even react. It cried out only for Dante to pull out the blade and bring it straight down, slicing the creature in two. Dante snickered as he watched the two halves fall to the ground, a sickeningly squishy sound being made when the pieces landed.

He sheathed Rebellion and let out a sigh. He's so used to taking on Assaults from when he was in Fortuna that nowadays he could easily take them down even when screwing around. "Sometimes, it sucks to be so damn strong; it takes the fun out of fights like this," he thought.

Kohta fired away at the approaching Scarecrows with the rifle, carefully aiming at their limbs as when they're shot there, it seems to knock them back a bit. He couldn't shot them all though and while the shots were doing damage to them, he was taking too long for each shot and he knew it. He was trying to conserve ammo by slowly chipping away at the limbs, but now he was reconsidering it as the Scarecrows with blades on their feet proved to be hard for even him to shoot as they jumped closer with surprising quickness.

One was far too close for his comfort and when he was about to take aim, Kohta watched in amazement as bullets suddenly peppered the Scarecrow's body, not a single shot missing. It staggered back several steps and the next thing it knew, a missile flew right at its face. Kohta had to shield his eyes as the missile struck the intended target, the resulting explosion rocking the area slightly.

Lady walked up next to Kohta with her machine gun in one hand and Kalina Ann slung over the shoulder of her other arm. She raised her machine gun up to the crowd of Scarecrows and opened fire. The volley of bullets she unleashed took out at least half of them, surprising Kohta as his rifle didn't seem to do much to them while Lady's weapon of choice was fairing far better. "Are you using custom rounds?" he had to ask.

Lady took out the empty clip and put in a new one. "Something like that," she replied.

She would've said more if the Mega Scarecrow didn't take that time to attack. It rolled straight at the two of them with startling speed, but Lady sidestepped it, pushing Kohta out of the way in the process. The Mega Scarecrow kept moving though, now aiming for the buggy. Shizuka and Alice froze at the sight of the massive demon, Saeko and Rei, who were remaining by the buggy in case any demons got past the others, gaped at it, not knowing of any way that they could slow it down or change its direction, let alone stop it.

Takashi, having just broke out of his slight stupor at how easily Dante took down the other Assault, reacted just in time to save them. Without thinking, he lunged right at the Mega Scarecrow, crashing hard into its side with everything he's got. The massive demon hadn't noticed the attack coming and as a result, was forced into changing direction. The Mega Scarecrow moved to the left and just missed the car, but slammed into and through a brick wall.

The sudden crash caused the Mega Scarecrow to flip into the air a bit, knocking Takashi off in the process. He fell to the ground headfirst. A cracking sound could be heard if one listened closely. However, Takashi got back up, letting out a groan as, just like in the end of his fight with Dante, he proved to be harder to kill than it seemed.

He felt his own skull seem to heal itself, hearing the cracked bones fall back into place. Takashi wobbled for a minute as he was still feeling the crash. Unfortunately, the Mega Scarecrow was perfectly fine. It got up and took a few lumbering steps towards Takashi and it was at this point he froze. He didn't know what to do in a situation like this. All of his more recent opponents may not have been normal, but at least Dante and the Scarecrows were human sized and not the size of a small house.

The Mega Scarecrow swiped at him with its huge arm, but Takashi was able to jump back, narrowly avoiding it. He cursed as he also took note of the demon's farther reach. As if its size alone wasn't bad enough.

"How the hell am I supposed to beat this thing?' Takashi muttered. He'd be lucky if it didn't just sit on him and kill him that way.

The Mega Scarecrow suddenly leapt high into the air, something that Takashi wouldn't have expected from something so large. It spun around, its blades sticking out ready to slice. Takashi rolled as far away from the demon's landing point to avoid actually being crushed to death. His opponent landed hard, causing a slight tremor that made Takashi lose some of his balance as he got up and the Mega Scarecrow reared back one of its arms and before Takashi knew it, it was merely inches away from his face.

He froze, knowing that there is no way he could get out of the way in time. He tried to bring up his arms, hoping that the blade wouldn't just cut them right off to get to his head. Takashi prepared for the hit, only to find the Mega Scarecrow's attack stopped by a sword. Dante's sword.

Dante stood right beside, casually holding Rebellion with one hand. He snickered at the demon. "Leave big, fat, and ugly to me kid. You still got a ways to go before you can rock with this guy," he said. He looked at Takashi to see his reaction.

The kid looked a little shocked and rightly so. Him and the others were still trying to get used to demons being around and the danger that they posed even in small groups. Dante honestly couldn't blame them for not believing that demons exist; it's not like demons go walking around in broad daylight all the time.

And he had wanted to see how Takashi would hold up against stronger demons, thus why he didn't finish off the first Assault from the get go. The brief tussle was all it took to tell him that the kid had quite a bit to learn if he wanted to protect the others. For now though, Dante decided that was something he would have to talk to Takashi about afterwards.

With a grunt, he forced the Mega Scarecrow back from Takashi. It roared and curled up into a ball and started spinning at high speed. It launched itself at Dante in an attempt to grind him into the ground, but Dante had other plans. He held Rebellion like a baseball bat and just as the Mega Scarecrow was about to hit him, Dante struck him with Rebellion.

Much to the shock of everyone except Lady, the massive demon went flying back, flailing its arms helplessly through the air. As it hit the ground, it could only look up as Dante appeared above it and pulled out his shotgun, Coyote-A. He took aim as he charged up the bullet and before the demon knew it, it was blasted right in the face with a charged shot.

The Mega Scarecrow screamed from the shot as it blew off a chunk of its face and the same black liquid found inside its smaller brethren seeped out. Dante wasn't finished though and struck the demon with his Helm Breaker. Everyone watched as Dante split the behemoth right in two, the black liquid now spurting out of the now dead demon like water out of a broken water fountain. One of the blades shot into the air and came straight back down, but Dante simply knocked it to the side with Rebellion.

"That could've been me," Takashi thought as he remembered Dante trying to do that on him. He was suddenly thankful that he had stopped the attack when they fought otherwise he probably wouldn't be here.

Lady had just disposed of the remaining Scarecrows, now making her way to the buggy along with Kohta, who had his head bowed. When the outbreak occurred, he had felt great despite all the chaos, having found something that he was better at than anyone else. His gun skills made him a big help to the group, but now with Dante and Lady around, he - and everyone else, he had noticed - had quickly become obsolete as the new duo showed off their skills and it was only their first real confrontation with them at their side.

He didn't voice his feelings though and so his gloomy look went unnoticed by the others. Dante had walked back to the group, sheathing Rebellion on his back. "Alright, that takes care of that," he said, ignoring the looks of amazement from them. "So what's the plan?"

"Plan?" Takashi repeated.

Dante rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you know, where the hell are we going to go from here? Because we sure can't go back to that mansion."

At that, Saya flinched. As Rei and Saeko got back in the buggy, Rei noticed her uneasiness. "Don't let your guard down," Kohta said sternly as he had just sat next to Saya.

Rei whirled around on Kohta and glared at him. "Hirano, you..."

"No, it's fine." Saya was looking away when she said that. "Really, it's fine. Hirano... Kohta is right."

Dante and Takashi had overheard the words and didn't say anything. Neither did Lady, she just looked down. She could relate to Saya's situation away a bit. Her mother being killed by her deranged, power hungry father was just as bad as having Saya leave her parents to fight off those zombies. Both situations had unnatural circumstances: Lady's mother was killed so that Arkham could gain some demonic power, and Saya's parents were fighting off creatures that up until recently only existed in science fiction.

Once everyone was aboard the buggy, Takashi took over the driving, forcing Shizuka into the back seat with everyone else. Given how many of them there were, they were all rather crammed together. Dante opted to just stand on the hood of the car, not wanting to be squished in the back with the others.

"So where to now?" Shizuka asked, oblivious to her breast nearly crushing Alice underneath.

"Sorry, but Rei and I have to find our parents. We need to check our houses, the police station, and Shintoko elementary school #3. At this rate, it shouldn't even take 2 hours," Takashi explained. "After that, we'll look for your friend, sensei."

"Hey, kid! There's the highway!" Dante yelled.

Making a sharp turn, Takashi rounded the corner, but quickly pulled to a stop. Rei and Saya broke out into a cold sweat. Shizuka and Alice looked like things were hopeless. The others simply took in the sight with a stern gaze. The highway that led into deep into the residential areas was littered with Them. Smoke could also be seen now rising from several houses.

"They're everywhere..." Alice said.

"Shit, why is it like this?" Takashi gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"It's obvious!" Saya said, getting back some of her haughtiness from earlier.

Dante raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Care to explain kid?"

Saya smirked. "Your knowledge really must be limited to nothing but shooting and slashing," she said. She felt a little good at throwing a small jab at Dante. Him calling her a kid was really irking her. "They react to sound! And the e.m.p. blast blotted out any sounds coming from within the city! Plus, my parents were using dynamite."

"Yeah, kid, I already knew about the sound thing," Dante said.

Saya nearly fell back in complete surprise. "You did?" She wasn't really expecting him to figure it out. Hell, she doubted anyone else would've found that particular detail out since they wouldn't have bothered to observe Them.

"Oh ye of little faith." Dante chuckled at Saya's expression. "I've fought demons that relied on sound to go around and attack." He thought back to Fortuna, where he first encountered a Blitz. It was the only kind of demon around that could actually give him any kind of real challenge. The fucking thing sure knew how to move with that damn lightning speed. Good thing it only attacked based on sound since it led the demon to attack some of its own kind on occasion. "I know I don't look like the next Einstein or anything, but do I really look that dumb to you, kid?"

"Yes," Saya said with a straight face. This made Lady laugh a bit at Dante's expression.

"Anyway, the buggy's engine is making plenty of noise and echoing all around too. We probably have the only working engine on the whole highway!" she explained.

"So now the problem is how are we going to get through here," Saeko calmly stated.

Rei's eyes suddenly lit up. "The buggy can go in the water right? How about we go into the river? I don't think they will go in the water!"

"That's what Matsudo-san said, but with this many people, I'm not sure we'd be able to stay afloat," Takashi said.

"Then should we go through Them again?" Shizuka was really getting worried by the number of Them around.

"There's too many of Them to try that," Takashi answered.

"Why not just have these two go out and clear a path?" Kohta gestured to Lady and Dante, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "After all, it's not as if they'll die or something. They stand a way better chance than all of us."

Dante and Lady looked at Kohta. They realized that he didn't seem to like them very much, but it still pissed them off a bit to have to deal with some guy that was feeling jealous or inferior because of their skill.

"Hey I have an idea..." Lady said.

Before long, Takashi was driving the buggy as fast as he can. The only other person with him was Saeko while the others were left behind a turned over car to hide until they drew the attention of most of Them. Dante or even Lady at least should have been with them, but it was decided that they remain behind as well with the others.

Takashi rammed into some of the walking undead, getting the attention of those nearby and began to drive away. Rei and the rest of the group watched from their cover. "I don't like this. They're acting as bait."

"It's not like there's another choice," Lady said.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like this," Rei replied.

"That's why that girl went with him. To cover his back in case they have to fight those things. And besides, that Takashi kid is strong. Anyone that could fight against Dante like he did for someone so inexperienced is strong in my book," Lady told Rei.

"I don't know this area very well, so how about we go to the meeting place?" Kohta said, snapping the two out of their thoughts. They began to move, with Rei reluctantly following along. Stronger or not, she hoped Takashi won't do anything stupid.

Takashi stifled a sneeze. He could've sworn someone was thinking something of him. Pulling the buggy to a stop, he turned to survey his efforts. Moving closer to them was a huge group of Them, easily enough to probably fill up a few houses. "Maybe I got too many," he commented.

"You always go overboard, Komuro-kun," Saeko said. Takashi chuckled sheepishly. "Should we go now?"

Takashi revved up the buggy. "Here we go!" He drove the buggy right over the side of the road, going down the slope to the river. The zombies followed suit, but started tumbling as soon as they stepped onto the slope. "So they can use stairs, but not slopes?"

"So it seems..." Saeko wasn't complaining about what the zombies can or can't do.

The ones that fell down slowly got back up, some of them staggering as their legs were badly damaged from the fall. The same could be said for their arms, which were bent at odd angles, bits of flesh falling off.

"They're still moving," Takashi said.

"It'd be too easy if they weren't," Saeko replied.

Takashi drove the buggy right into the river. He drove it into the river so fast that it caused a huge splash to almost completely envelope the buggy. Saeko nearly cried out as the water splashed onto her.

"Saeko-san, are you alrig-," Takashi asked as he whirled around in his seat only to freeze. Saeko sat there in the back, her clothes completely drenched. Since she was wearing her school uniform and the shirt was white, it was now see through and Takashi was given a rather nice view of her breasts, covered up by a black bra. Her breasts jiggled slightly from the force of the splash too. It didn't help that Takashi's eyesight was better than normal since his change.

Saeko was too busy trying to wipe the water off her face to pay attention to Takashi's reaction, but soon looked to see him staring. She quickly covered herself. "I'm a girl you know," she said with a blush.

"Y-yeah, sorry," Takashi replied back with a blush of his own. He drove down the river, letting the current help along the way. He and Saeko looked back to see Them still on land. They shared a brief smile. They rode in silence before Takashi sighed.

"It's not laudable for boys to sigh," Saeko whispered into his ear.

Takashi nearly jumped in surprise. "Oh, right. But, uh, Saeko-san, you keep getting closer..."

"You should try to keep your voice down, don't you think?" she said, ignoring his comment.

Takashi straightened up and drove onto a sandbar that they were approaching. As he pulled up onto it, Saeko nodded her head in seeming approval. "I see. So you planned to come to this sandbar from the beginning."

"I remember when I was a kid, people would always tell me that I shouldn't play here. The water's deeper than it looks and the current is strong," Takashi explained. He got down from the buggy and hefted a shotgun that Lady had given him before they carried out their plan. He shook his head. How does that woman manage to carry so many guns?

Saeko sat on the hood of the buggy. "Well then, everything seems to be going according to plan. We can rest for a bit."

"Yeah, let's take turns as lookout. You rest for now, Saeko-san." The second he said that, he heard Saeko sneeze.

"E-excuse me... I'm feeling pretty cold. I didn't have time to get any of my things so I don't have anything to change into." Saeko folded her arms under her breasts, unintentionally pushing them up.

Takashi quickly went over to a bag he had on the buggy, trying to fight the blush. "Here, you can wear this for now," he said, handing her a tank top and then turned around to give her some privacy.

About half a minute later, Saeko spoke. "You can turn around now."

Takashi complied and turned in time to see her tying up part of her hair into a bun. Once again, he couldn't help but take note of her breasts and how they slightly pushed against the front. He also noted that she wasn't wearing a bra anymore. "Do I look funny?" Saeko asked, noting his stare.

He backed away a bit and closed his eyes. His face turned a little red. "No! Not at all. I mean..."

Saeko giggled. "Do you always look at me as a girl, Komuro-kun?"

"Uh, I didn't mean-," he began.

"It's fine. I am a girl after all, right?"

Takashi looked away again, but after pondering something, he turned to face her again. "Uh, Saeko-san, was there ever anyone that you liked?"

"What brought that on?" she asked.

"Nothing really," Takashi said quickly, "it's just that being you, I figured..."

Saeko was silent for a while. "There was indeed a man that I liked."

She said nothing more and Takashi wasn't one to pry. They silently agreed to leave it at that. They just stared out towards the river, deciding that it was time to call it a day. They still had to prepare for tomorrow.

And done! Apologies for the somewhat cheesy ending, but I hope that you enjoyed it. Hopefully though, I should be able to get out the next chapter faster, but no guarantees. And thank you too for not complaining about the wait. I've seen that on some other fics and it was something that I hope wouldn't happen to me.

The next few chapters will be picking up the pace of the action so expect a lot of carnage to ensue then. And you may be in for a few surprises too...

Anyway, thanks for reading and please leave a review!


	11. Chapter 11

Finally, done with Senior Project! I knew that I'd feel happy once it was over with, but now that it really is, I feel awesome!

Anyways, sorry for the long wait, you know how it is with schoolwork getting in the way. That and I'm doing a story for something unrelated to and that takes up more time too. But thanks to all of you that have read, reviewed, and/or favorited this fic and I also thank you for your patience.

Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Dante sat up against the wall of building, sighing. Not too long after Takashi and Saeko went off to distract Them, Dante and the others were able to make their way down the long highway that was once littered with the undead, Dante, Lady, and Kohta taking care of any of the zombies that didn't react to the noise Takashi had generated with his tactics. After that, they had traveled as far into the city as they could and found the most fortified two story building they could to hole up for the night.

And now Dante observed Rei, Alice with Zeke on top of her, Shizuka, Saya, and Kohta sleeping soundly despite the zombies that would sometimes pass by outside. Dante had to give them credit for their guts to even sleep so peacefully. While it is true that this is a new world they're living in and that they have to get used to it, but he never expected them to get used to it so fast.

"They are a surprising bunch, aren't they?" Lady commented as she came down from the second floor of the building, hefting her Kalina Ann over her shoulder. She had reverted to english for the coming conversation that she hoped to spark.

"They sure are," Dante replied, uncharacteristically quiet.

Lady eyed him, her expression a bit unreadable, but if one looked close enough, it could be seen that she seemed worried for the devil hunter. Sitting down next to him, she spoke. "You're worried about the others, huh?" She asked, referring to Patty and Morrison; she knew that Nero and Trish could take care of themselves and thus Dante wasn't feeling too worried for those two.

Dante looked at her for a split second, not saying anything. Lady sighed; Dante did worry for their safety, but he was too damn stubborn to admit it. Not that she blamed him for it as she wouldn't admit to feeling worried too often either. "They're going to be okay. They can take care of themselves."

Once again, Dante merely looked at her for a second. "Yeah, I know they can." An uncomfortable silence fell upon them, the only noises audible being the snoring of the sleeping group before them.

Lady decided to change the topic of the conversation just then. "So what do you think?" she asked, gesturing to the group. "Think they have what it takes to survive?"

Dante seemed to break out of his sullen self a bit to look at them and silently appraise their skills. "Well, that chick - Rei, right? - is pretty good with using that gun as a spear. She must have had some serious training with it to be that good for a high school student."

Lady nodded, more to herself than to Dante as she remembered how fast and fluidly Rei had been able to pull her gun/spear on that Shidou guy. Pretty impressive.

"Yeah, I think she'd be fine. However, she seems to let her emotions get to her," Lady said, remembering how angry Rei was at Shidou. Granted, the guy was a complete scumbag, but Lady thought Rei let herself get lost in her rage for a bit.

"Good point," Dante agreed. "And then there's that Saya chick." He rubbed his chin in thought. It was obvious to him that while Saya was very smart and quick to come up with solutions, she seemed to have no experience with fighting. The fact that she basically sat out on the fighting so far only reinforced his opinion. "Well, she's clever, but has no damn fighting experience. I'd rather not have to save her ass every time we run into something."

"Well, that could be taken care of," Lady remarked, thinking the same thing. She planned to try and maybe teach the girl how to do more than stand behind everyone while they do the dirty work. She remembered that Yuriko gave her a gun and that Kohta was going to teach her how to use it; maybe she could lend a hand in that.

Dante chuckled as he knew what she meant by that and he secretly hoped that maybe Lady would mess with Saya; he found it fun to tease her.

Lady gestured to Kohta. "And what about him? He's a pretty good shot for someone his age."

"Says the girl that put a bullet in my head when we first met," Dante said sarcastically.

Lady rolled her eyes. "Okay, we may have only been 18 when we met, but it wasn't as if I shot you from the same distance he shoots those zombies from." She couldn't believe Dante still couldn't seem to let that go. Did shooting him in the head really leave that bad of an impression?

"Okay, okay, the kid is a good shot, but that's about it for him. Without a gun in his hands, he's got nothing," Dante said. He looked at Kohta snoring loudly in his deep sleep. "And before you try to get me to maybe teach him something else or maybe even give him one of my weapons, let me point out that the dude is against us."

Lady sighed as she remembered the few interactions they've had with Kohta so far. "I know. But moving on, there's the little girl," she told Dante, pointing to Alice.

Dante snorted. "Yeah, like we're really going to do anything about her. What do you want to do, give her a gun and hope she doesn't fire it by accident at one of us?"

Lady got a bit angry at that. "I'm not going to do anything like that. She's just a little girl and she shouldn't have to be learning how to use a gun to defend herself. I just want to help her find a way to protect herself without having to use some sort of weapon."

"Whatever," Dante replied, but he could tell by the way Lady's expression changed when she spoke that she felt bad for the girl, her having to now grow up in a world where there wasn't going to be much of a normal childhood for her. "And then there's that Shizuka chick," Dante said, changing the subject.

"Ah yeah, her," Lady remarked. Dante could've sworn he heard something off with Lady's tone of voice. "Well, given her personality and her former job as a nurse, I'd say there's no chance of her ever learning how to use a gun."

"Yeah," Dante agreed. He eyed Shizuka, who, in her sleep, now grabbed Alice and pulled her close to her huge breasts. He chuckled at the sight. "And she's got some huge ass tits," he muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Lady asked.

"I said that she's a huge ass ditz," Dante replied, almost too quickly. Lady didn't seem too convinced by his words, prompting Dante to change the subject a bit. "Wonder how that kid is doing."

"You mean your cousin, nephew, or whatever the hell he is supposed to be to you?" Lady asked.

Dante rolled his eyes. "Who else could I possibly mean? Unless my old man shacked up with a few other women back in the day," he retorted. He lost a bit of his sarcasm and grew a bit more serious. "He's pretty good for someone that hasn't fought demons before, but if the kid's as willing to defend these guys when we see him again, he ain't going to be ready for some of the other demons still out there."

"Agreed. But he was able to put up a decent fight against you, so maybe he's better than you think," Lady commented.

Dante chuckled. "Maybe. I'll admit that he did better than I thought. Nero still puts up a better fight though."

"That's only because of his Devil Bringer, his sword, and the fact that he has much more fighting experience than him." As she said that, Lady couldn't help but feel that if given some serious training, Takashi could eventually catch up to Nero's level, perhaps even go beyond that. Given how everyone related to Dante seems to be unpredictable sometimes, it was a possibility. However, she'd have to see Takashi in action a bit more before deciding that.

"Do you plan to give him one of your devil arms?" Lady asked Dante.

Dante rubbed his chin. "Meh, maybe. The kid is going to need all the help he can get, but hey I ain't one to baby people."

"He's your only damn relative left," Lady said.

Dante winced a bit at that. "Alright, alright, I'll give him one when he comes back with that Saeko chick. But it's not like I carry all of them on me. I'm not some walking weapon shop like you," Dante commented with a sigh.

Lady sighed. "Assuming he comes back. Those zombies aren't the only thing he has to worry about."

Dante shrugged. "He did pretty good against me, I'll give him that much. Besides, that Saeko chick is seems pretty good with that sword she was carrying around, so the kid will be fine. What's the worst that could happen?"

Lady sighed once more before excusing herself to go get some sleep before sunrise. Dante merely stayed put, looking out the window and into the distance. He could see more and more of Them wandering around. Although he wouldn't admit, he was a bit worried for Takashi, who has yet to show himself capable of dealing with demons such as Assaults. Against Scarecrows, Dante knew Takashi had no problem, but his bout with the Assault from earlier didn't really leave him with much confidence. Now he was hoping the damn kid didn't do anything stupid.

The next day, said person and Saeko were on the move, fully rested from their sleep from last night. Takashi maneuvered the buggy with ease. Driving across the river to the road and moving down it as fast as possible without tipping the buggy, the two noted that many of the wandering undead were still around.

"It's just as bad as it was before we hid out on the sandbank," Saeko noted.

"We won't know for sure just yet," Takashi replied, making a sharp turn, knocking down a few of Them in the process, their limbs utterly crushed beneath the buggy's huge tires. It wasn't until Takashi drove down the next block that Saeko realized where he was heading to.

"A park?" she asked.

Takashi grinned. "It's not just a place for hobos, you know!"

The park in question was nearly littered with Them around, but that didn't deter Takashi in the least as he drove straight for the water fountain in the center of the park. With surprising driving skill for someone his age, Takashi managed to get the buggy to jump slightly, landing in the fountain without actually crashing into it. This move, however, caused water to splash around on them, Saeko getting her clothes wet once again. "Do you enjoy making girls wet?" she nearly yelled at him.

Her words seemed to go unnoticed by Takashi. "Get the tape out of the backpack!"

Saeko, a bit annoyed at having to deal with wet clothing again, obliged him and handed him what he needed. Upon taking the tape from her, Takashi immediately got to work with the little plan he came up with just then. Using the tape to keep the steering wheel bound, the buggy began to turn right, over and over again, moving around the fountain as though it was some sort of kiddy ride.

The engine, combined with the splashing of the water, generated much noise and Takashi could see that the zombies were already making their way towards them. "I see. This sound will surely attract them from far away."

"The east exit isn't too far from here. This sound should last for a while, but I think it would be best to use guns as little as possible," Takashi said, hefting the shotgun from where he had it next to him. He looked down at it for a moment to make sure that it was loaded before letting out a sigh. "If it comes down to it, I could just bash their heads in with my fists," he muttered, remembering how easy it was to kill Them with his bare hands after his change. However, it was something he had no wish to relive; the last thing he needed was zombie brains splattered all across his hands.

Saeko nodded, a small smile finding its way onto her face before she leapt from the buggy and to the nearest zombie around. Her feet touching the ground, she made her way to it, it formerly being an elderly man. "What a putrid smell. You should at least wash your hair," Saeko taunted, drawing her sword in the process. And with one swift move, she sliced its head right off, a bit of blood spurting out from the wound. The zombie's head flew right off, struck the ground and bounced away.

The second it did hit the ground, Saeko launched herself at the next one, cutting its head diagonally and then beheading another one before finishing a third with a cut that removed the upper part of the head. This all occurred in the span of just a few seconds.

"Saeko-san, you're incredible," Takashi couldn't help but say, a bit of a nervous smile on his face.

Saeko smiled at the compliment, but as she turned around to face the approaching crowd of Them, she stopped dead in her tracks at the ones in the frontline of the group: undead children.

Takashi noticed her sudden stop and looked at what she saw, his eyes only widening for a split second before they narrowed as he heard a zombie approaching from behind. Turning too quickly to be seen by the human eye, Takashi unleashed a vicious backhand that knocked the zombie's head right off its body. Unlike Saeko's cleanly made kills, this one was certainly messy, blood flying in all directions, pieces of bone going along with it.

Having disposed of the immediate threat, Takashi turned back around to see that Saeko still hasn't moved. "What are you doing, Saeko-san!" he yelled.

Saeko slightly jumped, startled by his voice. She didn't get a chance to respond before Takashi came up next to her. Pushing Saeko out of the way, Takashi leveled the shotgun at one of the children, having no desire to kill them the same way he killed the adult one he just disposed off. He took a deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to do and then pulled the trigger.

The undead child before him didn't stand a chance against a point blank shot like that. Its entire head and a portion of the upper left part of its body were utterly blown away by the shotgun blast. The remaining body flew back into the crowd, nearly knocking down the other children that moved forward.

Sweat formed on Takashi's face just a bit as he now knew that he would have to come to terms with what he just did at some point. But now wasn't the time for such things and he knew that. Grabbing hold of Saeko's hand, he broke into a run, Saeko nearly stumbling as her speed proved to be unable to keep up with Takashi's speed.

Slowing down just a bit to let Saeko have an easier time keeping up, he slammed an elbow into a zombie they passed by, the nose crushed from the attack's strength. "Fuck!" Takashi nearly yelled as he looked around, trying to figure out where to go next. "Okay, we could hide there for the time being," he said upon spotting an entrance to a temple.

Still not letting go of Saeko's hand, Takashi rushed to the temple and didn't release his hold until he had begun to lock the door. Now that the place was more or less secure, he focused his attention on Saeko, who opted for sitting down. "Saeko-san, what happened?" he asked, concerned about her reaction to the children.

He didn't receive a response, but he didn't want to push the issue too much just yet. In his wait, he noticed that the room was rather dark. Surprisingly, he didn't have much of a problem seeing in the dark, but that didn't stop him from finding a candle to light. "We should probably stay here until morning. And we don't want to just be sitting here in the dark either. After all, it wouldn't do to have someone sneak up on us."

Lighting the candle, Takashi waited a moment longer before speaking again. "There must have been a reason why you changed so suddenly earlier."

Saeko didn't glance his way, but she answered him. "I'm not sure if you'd understand, but will you listen to me?" she asked.

Takashi nodded, trying to smile to keep the mood in the room somewhat relaxed. "First of all, it's getting a bit cold so let me find a blanket." As soon as he said that, he went off to search the building and it was only a few seconds before he found a few things. "Here let's sit on this," he said as he placed the blanket he found on the floor next to the candle.

"Oh yeah, I found this too," he said. Saeko looked at him curiously as he handed her something. Upon seeing her confused expression, Takashi leaned in close. "It's a handheld toilet," he said, feeling a bit embarrassed to say that.

Saeko froze at his words, but once she got over the surprise, she covered her mouth with both hands, trying not to laugh. "Hey, don't laugh. We'll be fine as long as we have it," Takashi told her, but he was trying to fight back a laugh too.

After settling down, both of them lapsed into silence. "You know, I think I know what you were afraid of. Those kids were..." Takashi began to say, but Saeko stopped him.

"No, that's not it." Saeko took a second to sit more comfortably. "You asked me on the sandbar if there was someone I liked." Takashi, having not expected that, began to grow flustered, but Saeko once again stopped him. "It's fine. I'm just like any other girl. I like boys too. But I never told him how I felt. I didn't think I had a right to tell him."

"It's hard for me to imagine the kind of guy you'd like." Takashi flinched a bit at his own words. He felt that he should just blurt out things like that.

"I wonder if he had ever killed someone before," Saeko murmered. Takashi froze right on the spot, his mind unable to think of a response to that. "Four years ago, I was walking along the street at night and was attacked by a man. I had my wooden sword so of course I didn't lose. I broke his shoulder blade and femur. Given the circumstances, the police sent me home."

Takashi now tried to sputter out a response. "But that's... maybe it was a little excessive, but even the police-," he began, but was cut off.

"That itself was not what I was arrested for... I liked it," Saeko said, nearly saying the last part as a whisper before suddenly speaking up. "It made me feel good to make him suffer! After realizing I had the overwhelming upper hand with my wooden sword, his frightened movements... I attacked without any hesitation!" she cried with a hint of glee and a crazed look in her eyes as she seemed to be reliving the moment in her mind. "I liked it. It was exhilarating."

She took a moment to regain herself. "That is the real me. That's what Busujima Saeko is really like. Though I have to wonder if you can look past that. I get crazy when I have the upper hand and I pretend to have the heart and soul of a young girl." She now sat there patiently to let Takashi have some time to digest what she has said.

"I've shown sides of being like Them too," Takashi said, the memory of taking joy in smashing open a cash register with a bat replayed in his head. He also remembered feeling some sense of excitement as he had crushed some of Them so easily with the changes to his being.

"But you became like that after the outbreak. I was like that before it," Saeko replied, "I realized it as I was in front of the fountain that I haven't changed at all. I'd say that I'm actually getting worse."

She fell silent after that and Takashi made no attempt now to speak. Both of them spent the rest of the night in silence, only getting a few hours of sleep. It wasn't until Takashi woke up and had shook Saeko awake that he dared to open the door to the temple. Slowly creeping outside, he scanned the immediate area briefly. "Alright, if we go out to the street on the other side, it'll take about twenty minutes to get to where everyone..." he trailed off as he heard Them approach. Cursing, he looked to see that in the distance, they were moving towards them, some of Them shambling along due to pieces of their legs missing.

"How did they..." he began, but stopped as he heard something. Listening closely, he could easily hear the wind blowing, making the trees rustle. It was no where near enough to be considered loud, but it was still audible. "The trees... the god damned trees and the wind brought them here," he said, almost hatefully. He just couldn't believe how ridiculous this was; surely there had to be something louder than this to keep the undead's attention elsewhere.

"Alright. Saeko-san, let's get ready to run." Takashi took a step towards the girl, but Saeko made no attempt to move. Looking at the strange expression on her face was enough to make Takashi flare with anger for a brief second, enough anger to make his eyes turn red like they had when he had hoisted Saya into the air.

"Saeko!" he yelled as he got behind her. She was more than a bit surprised by this action and was going to say something, but Takashi cut off the first word out of her mouth. "If you need a reason then do it for me! No matter how tainted you are, I'll still admire you for as long as I'm alive! I still think you're an amazing woman, so don't die!" His voice dropped from a yell to more of a whisper as he appeared to unknowingly grip Saeko's left breast, making her shiver just a bit. "Don't die on me. Please be your true self, with all of your faults."

A few seconds passed before a small smile graced Saeko's face. "I'll consent to that," she said as Takashi let her go, returning her smile with one of his own.

Taking hold of her sword, Saeko unsheathed it, charging at the small crowd of Them, showing no hesitation as she began to cut Them down. Body parts flew and so did blood, but the carnage only seemed to turn Saeko on as a gleeful smile was on her face. "Oh yes, this is it." Her words could be heard throughout the area despite the noise she was making with killing the zombies.

Takashi grinned, glad to see that Saeko was out of her funk, and proceeded to join her in disposing of the zombies, preferring to use his fists as he didn't feel like attracting any more attention with the noise the shotgun makes; it certainly wouldn't be doing the two of them any favors if the noise not only ended up attracting more of Them, but also some demons. Takashi especially had no wish to fight a pair of Assaults so soon after nearly being done in by just one.

He leapt into the air and brought his foot down in a wicked axe kick on one of the zombies, splitting its head open with ease, its decaying brains falling out. Upon landing, he did a leg sweep on another one near by and promptly stomped its head in with his foot. Takashi couldn't help but feel a bit of glee when he heard a squashing sound similar to the squishing of a tomato. This action of his just showed that he really did share a similar streak of sadism like Saeko.

Looking up, he saw that Saeko, in her sadistic joy, had made quick and bloody work of the other zombies around, making way for a path. Smirking, he ran to catch up with Saeko. "Saeko, this way!" he said, grabbing hold of her hand to lead her in the right direction. Like before, he tried to keep his speed at level for Saeko to keep up with, something that was proving rather hard; he blamed Dante fighting him for this.

"Takashi," Saeko called out. Upon getting his attention, she spoke again. "Take responsibility... do it for me, okay?"

Takashi smiled. "You wish is my command!" And with that said, they ran nonstop to the location they had agreed upon with the others when Lady had suggested her little plan: the shopping mall.

It was just a bit past noon when they finally reached their destination. Looking up on top of the building from a distance, Takashi could make out Kohta, Rei, and Saya. Smiling, he grabbed Saeko's hand and picked up the pace a bit.

Alright, done! To those of you that expected some demon ass kicking in this chapter, sorry about that. However, never worry for you shall get your demonic battles soon. And I also have something in mind that will surely keep the group on their toes, even Dante so I hope you look forward to that.

And to spardatheone, the answer to your question is long overdue and if you're still reading this fic, I apologize for the wait for I can be forgetful quite a bit. Anyways, I feel a bit glad that I have put Takashi's power into perspective. Funny, I never really thought about where he stood next to Nero and Dante until your question, but better late than never.

Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Please be sure to review!


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry for the long wait. I got caught up in planning a few things out for college and all. Man, feels strange now that I've chosen my classes and am now officially a college student. Looks like it's time to enter the real world now.

Anyways, here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoy.

NOTE: RIGHT AFTER THIS CHAPTER, I WILL BE WORKING ON THE NEXT CHAPTER TO MY OTHER MAIN FIC (TO FIGHT A GOD), BUT ONCE THAT CHAPTER IS DONE, I WILL BE WORKING ON THIS FIC UNTIL IT IS COMPLETED SO EXPECT ME TO UPDATE DEVIL APOCALYPSE MORE OFTEN AFTERWARDS.

Chapter 12

Dante sighed as he surveyed the mall. There really wasn't much else for him to do as Takashi and the others have taken to keeping to themselves for now, looking through the stores to stock up on supplies.

"Is this still good, Saya-san?" Kohta asked, holding up a pack of meat up to Saya.

"The power failure occurred yesterday! Just check the expiration date and make sure it doesn't smell," Saya answered.

Dante eyed the two with amusement. He may have to wait until they all explored the mall a bit so that he could talk to Takashi for a while, but at least he had some entertainment in the form of these two to keep him occupied.

"Hey, hold it right there!" They all turned to see a middle aged man pushing a cart, dozens of items in it. He was one of several survivors that Dante and the others have run into at the mall. Seeing as they have been there before Dante and the others showed up, they have already come up with some rules to abide by, something that the man made obvious now. "We already decided to dry or smoke all of the raw meat and fish. Don't keep all of that to yourself."

Before the man could continue with his lecture, someone else showed up. "Wait just a minute, Shimada-san!"

The man, Shimada, turned to see a short, petite policewoman pointing at him. "Oh, it's you," he said gruffly.

"Those kids got here yesterday! They don't know about the rules that Asa - I mean, this officer and the others have set!" The policewoman tried to glare at him to solidify her point, but seemed to fail at that. Then, much to Dante's amusement, the policewoman began to flail her arms about like a little kid. Dante had to wonder if she was fresh out of the police academy or something. "Besides, um, you need to finish gathering the food quickly. It will be a lot harder without the help of the skylights."

Shimada looked ready to argue her point, but he held his tongue and went off to complete the task.

Kohta rubbed his head sheepishly. "Thanks."

The policewoman smiled. "Tokonosu Higashi Police Station's Traffic Department, patrol-woman Nakoaka Asami, at your service!" the policewoman, Asami, introduced herself.

Kohta got a strange look on his face that didn't sit well with Dante, who was surprisingly quiet at the moment.

Saya on the other hand, wasn't one to be affected by Asami's cheerful intro or Kohta's face. "So? With everything that happened yesterday I forgot what you told us, but are you the one who organized everyone here?"

Asami flinched nervously. "No, um, it wasn't Asami. It was Matsushima-senpai who guided everyone here."

Saya took several seconds to dwell on that bit of information. "And where is that person now?"

"Oh, it was safe here so she went back to headquarters to get support..." Asami said, gesturing for no apparent reason. "That was yesterday afternoon."

At those last words, Dante, Kohta, and Saya all shared a look with each other. Asami noticed their expressions. "Don't worry! Matsushima-senpai is different from Asa - I mean the police officer standing here now. This one's still in training, but senpai's gotten a lot of honors and is a real veteran! She'll definitely come back with support!"

Just then, another one of the survivors came by. "Hey police girl! Let's start today's meeting!"

Asami, flustered, began to break out into a jog. "Ah right, right, right! She's coming!"

Saya stared intently at Asami's retreating form. "Something's fishy about this whole thing, ain't it kid?" Dante whispered to her.

Saya nodded. "She's hiding something..." she whispered back.

She would've said more, but Takashi and Alice took that particular moment to appear. Alice rushed over to Kohta and gave him a high five as a way of greeting. Takashi, who had a carefree expression a moment ago when Alice was with him, now had a more serious expression. "The entrance was securely blocked off."

"With a veteran police officer around like they had before, it makes sense for them to have a good barricade set up," Saya responded, having figured as much from the get go.

"By the way, about the guns we hid, well most of them..." Takashi commented, him and Kohta having stashed away the guns in some hiding spots to avoid making the survivors panic. This was an action undertaken by them that Dante and Lady didn't take part in, something that originally annoyed Saya as she knew it wouldn't end well. So far though, the survivors didn't seem to be too nervous around the duo.

"The people aren't as settled as my papa's subordinates were," Saya commented, "it's actually a bit of luck on our part that they haven't begun to lose the little calm they have with this guy around," she said, pointing at Dante. She glared at him, but the devil hunter simply shrugged it off.

"Well, we don't want the guns to be stolen," Takashi pointed out. He looked at Dante and then remembered the fight. 'Then again, with him and that girl around, I doubt they'd try anything," he muttered.

Dante heard him and snickered. "Yeah, kid, I'm sure those people would be all over me trying to get to my babies," he remarked with a roll of the eyes as he patted the spots in his coat where his guns were.

Saya copied his roll of the eyes gesture, proving that she can still be easily annoyed by Dante. She shifted her attention onto Kohta, who was talking to Alice. Noticing that he hadn't been paying attention to what they had been talking about, she was quick to remedy that by pinching his ear tightly.

Kohta yelped in pain before turning around to face Saya. "D-did I do something wrong?"

"Don't let some little kid distract you," Saya said to him.

Letting go of Kohta's ear, she motioned for Takashi, Dante, and Kohta to get closer together. "Anyway, this place isn't going to last long."

"What do you mean? They have plenty of food and water," Takashi said.

"The foundations holding the group together have fallen apart. This healthy environment they have is going to sour fast. The fresh food they do have is already starting to go bad." She paused for a brief moment. "And," she started to say reluctantly, "if those... demons decide to attack, given what we've seen of them so far, they'll have no problem getting through the barricade and into here," Saya explained, feeling weird to have to say the word demon.

"Well if we move the toilets to the roof and go to the bathroom as though we're camping, we might be able to make do with using vinyl sheets or something to collect water into..." Takashi began to say before drifting off, trying to think of what to say next.

Alice chose this time to speak her mind. "But there are a lot of people here, right? I know from experience that if water isn't running, we won't be able to use the showers and we'll get dirty and get sick!" she said matter of factly.

The group gave her odd looks except Dante who chuckled at their expressions; they had just been schooled by a kid and that cracked him up.

"Why is this kid trying to get involved?" Saya yelled to no one in particular.

"Saya-chan, your voice is so loud that I could hear everything anyway," Alice retorted with a laugh. Zeke seemed to find the situation funny too by barking.

"Don't call me Saya-chan! It's Saya onee-sama to you, brat!" Saya furiously exclaimed to Alice, pinching her cheeks with as much strength as she could muster.

Dante laughed. "You know for someone that's supposed to be the next Einstein, you sure are dumb, kid, to be schooled by her," he said in between short bouts of laughing.

Saya whirled on him. "You shut up!" she yelled comically, which only served to make him laugh more; Dante couldn't help but wonder what it was about her that made him enjoy moments like these so much.

Saya growled in frustration, knowing that it was pointless to get Dante to stop. "Anyway, you guys go find some stuff we can use! And make sure it's stuff we really need because we don't want to get that other group all riled up!" she shouted at Takashi and Kohta.

Both boys nodded and made their way towards the escalator. As soon as they were about to make their way up, Dante remembered something. "Oi, ki- Takashi," he called out, deciding that it was time for him to get a little serious and actually use Takashi's name. When Takashi turned to face him, Dante spoke again. "When you're done looking, come to the roof. We gotta talk about something."

Takashi looked interested at what Dante had to say. Besides, this had to be the first time he's ever sounded so serious, so whatever it was that he wanted to talk about, it must be important. He nodded to Dante and turned back to go up the escalator.

As soon as they got to the top and rounded the corner, Kohta moved a bit closer to Takashi. "What do you think he wants to talk about, Komuro?" he whispered.

"Don't know," Takashi replied. His eyes narrowed as he noticed that Kohta seemed to strongly dislike Dante judging by how he had said 'him'. He was tempted to ask Kohta why he seemed to be so against Dante, but decided that he could ask him about that later. "So what should we do first?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Should we try talking to that police woman?" Kohta suggested. "She seems unreliable, but it looks like she knows all of the stores here."

Thinking of Asami, Takashi sighed in relief. "I'm glad we hid the guns." Looking at Kohta's confused expression, he continued on. "I just don't think it'd be a good idea to carry around weapons with her around. Dante and Lady seem to be an exception, but then again they're adults so maybe she just trusts them since they're older than us."

Kohta took in this bit of information. "There's only so much we can do without them though," he said before getting a sheepish look on his face, "well, at least for me and the others. You can do much more than us since you're much stronger and faster than you were before your... little change," he said, not knowing exactly how to word it.

"Yeah," Takashi said, rubbing his chin in contemplation. He was amazed at how fast he had come to adjust to his new situation. His change, the demons, meeting Dante and Lady, his apparent relation to Dante, it was all a lot to take in and in such a short amount of time too. Takashi was astounded at how well he seemed to be handling. There was no doubt in his mind that if anyone else had been in his position, that person may have just lost it.

He was caught up in his thoughts so much that he didn't pay attention to where he and Kohta were going until he heard Rei calling him. Looking up, he saw a rather stern expression on her face. "Oh, this should be wonderful," he muttered, not liking the look one bit. It didn't exactly help his mood when he saw Saeko standing next to her with a similar expression. He prayed that if they were going to yell at him or something, they'd let him get some ear plugs first; his hearing was so good now that certain noises can really make him wince in pain.

Rei pointed to the store she was standing outside of. "Oh," Takashi breathed out, taking note of the bikes in the store.

"We can use bikes from here on. This store already has a bunch of them assemble," Rei pointed out, walking into the store.

"Yeah, this would really..." Takashi started, but trailed off, knowing that Rei was about to say something.

She didn't disappoint. "Guess what I figured out." Takashi looked at her and was rewarded with one very angry look on Rei's face. "I know. I know what's going on!" She said to him coldly before stomping off.

Takashi put his head down, not quite sure if he should say anything lest she do yell at him. Kohta and Saeko merely stood to the side. "Is she jealous?" Takashi asked aloud once Rei was out of sight.

Saeko didn't say anything, just sighed and left too. Takashi now felt really nervous; what if she ended up getting angry at him now too? He noticed the tension between the two girls earlier and he'd be lying to himself if he said that it didn't worry him. Takashi hoped that the girls didn't get into a fight or anything because that was the last thing the group needed right now.

"Oh hey, I forgot to tell you this earlier, but that other group are having a meeting right now, Komuro," Kohta said, opting to change the mood.

"Is that so? Wonder what they plan to talk about. From what I've seen of the other survivors, they don't exactly look calm right now. Not that I blame them," Takashi said, muttering out that last sentence.

Kohta nodded and led Takashi to where the meeting was supposed to be held. It didn't take them long to get there as the survivors' voices were rather loud. One look at the group from a distance was all it took for Takashi to and Kohta tell the obvious: they were losing it. An elderly lady seemed to be feeling pretty weak at the moment - she apparently needed a blood transfusion from what Takashi heard - and there were two young men with black hair that currently seemed to be in the middle of a breakdown of sorts. One of them was holding a knife, something that didn't sit well with Takashi or Kohta.

"Looks like they're causing some trouble," Kohta pointed out, noting that all of them were yelling at Asami, who looked like she was crying.

"Seems like they're falling apart," Takashi said.

"If that was it then it wouldn't be much of a problem. However, right now they're clinging to the authority of the police," Kohta replied.

"But they're all blaming her," Takashi said, pointing to Asami, now sitting on a couch, surrounded by several survivors.

"They've realized that the police are useless now," Kohta responded, answering Takashi's unasked question. He looked sadly at Asami, who was obviously trying to defend herself, but to no avail. "They've realized that the police aren't the saviors they thought they were and now they're blaming her for it all."

Both of them looked on at the sight. "Komuro," Kohta said after a moment of silence between them.

"Yeah?" Takashi said quietly.

"I know we don't have to come to the rescue of every single person we meet who's in trouble," Kohta said back, earning him a nod from Takashi. A smirk formed on both of their faces. "But that's boring! So let's make thing a bit more interesting."

Takashi chuckled; Kohta is a cool guy to be around sometimes. "What do you have in mind?"

Kohta reached into his back pocket and produced a pistol. "Why, I just plan to give her back her gun. After all, this is a police issued weapon and she is a police officer." Kohta grinned.

Takashi took the gun from Kohta to look it over before handing it back to him. "You sure? It will help her keeping those people in line, but it could also put more responsibility on her shoulders than she can handle."

"True, but it's for the sake of group unity. Trust me, it's better this way," Kohta replied.

Takashi thought over the situation and eventually nodded. "Alright then. Go to her rescue," Takashi said with a grin.

Kohta nodded and turned to do so, but stopped. "Oh Komuro, since we're pretty much done looking around for now, don't you have to be somewhere?"

Takashi raised an eyebrow at first, but then remembered what Dante said. He had been so caught up just now that it had slipped his mind. "Right, thanks."

Takashi left without another word, heading straight for the roof. It took a bit of time for him to find te stairs up as there was a lot of ground to cover in the rather large mall, but eventually Takashi was heading up the steps, only pausing for a moment when he heard something out of the ordinary on the way up. "Was that... thunder?" he thought aloud, hearing a loud boom coming from outside.

He walked faster up the steps and when he finally reached the roof, he saw Dante sitting on the ledge of the roof, looking into the distance. Lady was also nearby, standing near the edge, her hand unconsciously moving towards one of her guns when she seemed to spot something. Just when her hand was about to touch the gun, she drew it away, apparently whatever was bugging her gone now.

"Took you a while, kid," Dante commented, getting up from his spot.

Takashi didn't pay attention to what he said at first, opting to look at the sky. It was cloudy and in the far off distance, he could've sworn that he saw lightning. Thunder once again boomed, taking him aback as he hadn't expected it again so soon. "A thunder storm?" he asked.

"Yes. Must be a result of the nuclear fallout," Lady reasoned, remembering the mansion event from just the other day.

Takashi blinked as he suddenly remembered that particular fact. "Ah, yeah... forgot that," he said.

"Uh huh," Dante said, sounding bored, "I didn't say for you to come up here and admire the sky, kid. We have something to talk about."

Takashi now focused his attention on Dante. "And that would be... what?"

Dante sighed. "Alright, you know already that more and more demons are gonna start showing up now for the party known as apocalypse and I'll be honest here kid, you really need to get better at fighting them," he said.

"But can't you two take just take care of the more powerful ones while I deal with those scarecrow looking ones?" Takashi asked, thinking back to how he was barely able to go up against the Assault.

"Better to have three power players than just two," Dante replied, "besides, like your parents must have told ya, you just gotta grow up." Dante cursed to himself; he sounded a little old when he said that.

"You sounded old when you said that," Lady shot out. Dante twitched in annoyance at her voicing what he had thought while Takashi let out a chuckle. Lady herself had a small smile on her face; it's been a while since she's messed with Dante in any way.

"Ha ha, laugh it up. Anyways, I'm gonna make this real short kid because I hate long talks: you're gonna have to get better at fighting demons soon because I'm not always gonna play the savior for you and your pals."

Takashi stopped chuckling at that. "And how am I supposed to do that if more demons are going to be appearing soon?"

Dante smirked. "Easy kid: devil arms."

Takashi raised an eyebrow. "Devil arms?" he asked, curious about it.

"Devil arms are weapons that are made from the souls of powerful demons," Dante explained very simply.

Takashi nodded his head at the short explanation. "Alright. And... what about it? I'm supposed to get one?"

"I'm gonna give you one," Dante said, "I got a whole bunch and it's not like I brought them all with me here. Hell, I don't use that many anyways."

Takashi looked at him with a curious expression. "And just how many do you have on you?"

Dante chuckled. "Five. I'm only giving you one though. I don't see a point in giving you more unless you can actually handle it."

"You going to give the rest to the others? Like Rei and Kohta?" Takashi asked, figuring that there were enough for most of them to use.

Dante shook his head. "Can't do that, kid."

"What? Why?" Takashi asked.

"Because in order to use a devil arm, one has to wrestle with its soul. Only those with a strong will can do that sort of thing," Lady answered, moving away from the edge and closer to them.

"Yeah, what she said. And no offense to your buddies, but they really don't know how to handle demons," Dante pointed out also.

Takashi's shoulders slumped when he heard that; he really had hoped that maybe they could use them to stand a better chance in case the zombies or demons find a way into the mall. "Fine," he said.

Standing straighter, he now had to ask Dante something. "So just what kind of devil arms do you have?"

Dante mulled over Takashi's words. The kid was basically asking him which one would be a good one for him to use. The devil arms Dante had now were Pandora, Gilgamesh, Nevan, Agni and Rudra, and Alastor. Going over each and every one of them in his mind, Dante quickly dismissed the idea of giving Alastor and Pandora to Takashi. Alastor would stab him through the heart in a test to see if he can withstand the attack and then Takashi would have to subdue it, something that Dante didn't think he was ready for yet. Pandora was simply too destructive for the kid to use effectively; there was a good chance that he'd end up accidently hurting himself or the others with it.

Nevan seemed like a good choice to give to him, but Nevan's personality may be a bit much for Takishi to handle. The way he seemed to interact around the girls from earlier sort of confirmed it. And then there were Agni and Rudra... "Yeah, right," Dante thought. Those damned swords would give away their position to the zombies as soon as they were pulled out. It seemed that the simple two words Dante spoke to them back at Temen-ni-gru weren't taken to heart afterwards by the twin swords.

That only left Gilgamesh. "I have just the one for you, kid." Dante then closed his eyes for a brief second to summon to Gilgamesh, the gauntlets and grieves appearing in the form of bright blood red flash.

Takashi blinked in surprise; that sure wasn't something that he saw every day. Granted, he wasn't as surprised as he would've been if he had seen this much sooner before the demons first appeared, but nevertheless, he was surprised.

"What's that?" he asked, looking over Gilgamesh as Dante was quick to take it off and hand it to him in something of a pile, the gauntlets laying on top of the grieves and something else that appeared to have been on Dante's back.

"It's called Gilgamesh. As you can see here, it's a set of gauntlets and grieves. It makes you faster and hit harder than usual and there's a few other little things about it too, but you can find that shit out for yourself later," Dante explained.

As Takashi reached out to take Gilgamesh from Dante, the pile glowed. Takashi pulled his hands away from it in shock, having not expected that. Dante laughed at his reaction while Lady went back to looking out towards the city, noting that the lightning seemed to be closer than before. "Odd..." she thought.

Before he could pull back too far, the pile seemed to turn itself into a ball of light that then shot out of Dante's hands and straight at Takashi, who didn't have the time to react. When the light slammed into him, it broke into several pieces that then formed on his hands, feet, and back. When the light died down, Takashi was shocked to see that he now wore Gilgamesh.

He was even more shocked when he realized that the gauntlets and grieves were a perfect fit on him, not loose or tight, something that he found strange as Dante was taller and a bit more muscular than him and as a result Gilgamesh seemed a bit too big when Takashi first looked at them.

"Whoa," he said breathlessly. He blinked in surprise when he heard his voice as it now seemed to have some sort of metallic tone to it. Moving a hand to his mouth, he came into contact with some sort of mask that covered his mouth.

Dante snickered as Takashi then examined his grieves. "Why don't you throw a few punches? Get a feel for it."

Takashi took a minute to look over the weapon before nodding. Getting into a stance, he quickly threw out a punch at the air. He was amazed as his fist seemed to move faster than when he didn't have the gauntlets on, proving that it did indeed make him faster and hit harder. Takashi did a few more punches before lashing out with a roundhouse kick.

"Wow," he said under his breath.

"Yeah, sweet, isn't it?" Dante remarked.

Lady heard thunder once more and turned to face the two. "If two are done, I think it's time we head back inside. I have a bad feeling about this," she said. Something about the lightning seemed odd to her and she really didn't want to find out just why that is.

Dante looked at her and seemed ready to argue something, but the look Lady shot him also shot down whatever he was going to say. Dante sighed. "Alright, you heard the boss lady," Dante said with some emphasize on the words boss lady to tick Lady off a bit, "time to head back inside, kid."

Takashi nodded and began to make his way towards the stairs when he stopped. "Hey wait, how am I supposed to put this away?" he asked.

"All you have to do is think it. Just think that you want it gone for now and it'll go away until you need it, kid," Dante responded, not bothering to wait for him, making his way down the stairs.

Takashi stood still and closed his eyes. Concentrating hard, he did what Dante said and thought for Gilgamesh to disappear for now. He was surprised when it seemed to respond, fading out of view in a brief flash of light.

As soon as the light died down and he was sure it was gone, Takashi walked quickly to catch up with Dante. As soon as he caught up, they both continued to walk silently down the stairs, Takashi figuring out how Gilgamesh could really help and also on what other things it could do, while Dante merely stayed silent because he knew Takashi would be thinking.

However, when they finally reached the bottom of the stairs, they were both startled by a sudden cry. "Shizuka-sensei!" Kohta cried out.

Both Dante and Takashi were quick to respond and head towards Kohta, who sounded nearby. However, they didn't have to rush so much as Kohta rounded the corner.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Takashi asked.

"Shizuka-sensei is missing and so is that one guy I ran into at the food store. Some of the people at the meeting commented about him, saying that he's been giving a few of the woman here some odd looks," Kohta said, worried.

Takashi swore. "Alright, we gotta find her then. Does anyone know where exactly Shizuka sensei went? The last store she went to or something?" he asked, immediately taking charge.

If it wasn't for the situation right now, Kohta would've laughed at how much like a leader Takashi was acting like despite how he was back in school. However, laughing at Takashi's expense was something that could wait for later.

He was about to answer when they heard a scream. They recognized it as Shizuka's voice. Takashi and Dante rushed towards the source of the scream, a place that wasn't too hard to find as it was surprisingly close by. The point of origin turned out to be a large bed store.

Heading straight in, the duo quickly scanned the part of the store they could see, but there was no sign of her. Then Dante heard voices coming from somewhere in the back of the store. "This way, kid," he said before rushing off.

Rounding around the corner in the store, he was met with the sight of Shizuka lying upon a bed with Shimada, the man Kohta met earlier, right in front of her with a knife in hand. Both didn't seem to notice his presence, Shizuka not noticing due to fear while Shimada was too occupied with his lust.

"Just let me fuck you once, okay? With the monsters roaming around now, I'm not gonna be seeing any women like you with such nice buddies," he said, a sneer on his face. He moved the knife closer to Shizuka. "If I'm not being clear enough the-," he began to say, but was cut off when Dante moved right behind him and grabbed him by the shoulders. Without so much as a grunt, Dante threw Shimada across the store as though he was a rag doll. Shimada had been thrown so fast that Takashi, who just saw it happen, swore that it was a miracle the guy didn't get motion sickness when he hit the floor hard.

"You alright?" Dante asked, turning to face Shizuka after watching Shimada land.

Shizuka nodded slowly, amazed at how easily Dante had thrown her would be rapist. Dante stretched out his hand for her to grab so he could help her get off the bed.

While he did that, Saya and the others appeared right outside the store, having heard Shimada crash into the floor. "What the hell just happened?" one of the survivors from the meeting earlier yelled.

While that was going on, Lady was still up on the roof. She had pulled out a rifle and looked through the scope at the area directly in front of the mall, taking note of the undead that were around. "Good. It doesn't seem as if they're heading here," she thought.

Thunder boomed once more. Lady looked up at the sky. The thunder and lightning were really beginning to bug her now, although it was the lightning that made her feel a bit uneasy. For a while now, it's seemed as if the lightning has been getting closer and closer with every passing minute. At first, it far off in the distance, but now it couldn't have been more then just a few blocks away from the mall and was just getting closer.

"Just what is going on? It can't be because of the nuke. It's almost as if-," Lady began to think before realizing something. "Oh shit!" she yelled. She turned to run towards the stairs, but before she could make it halfway across the roof, a lightning bolt shot out of the sky and directly towards the mall.

The lightning bolt slammed into and through the roof as if it wasn't even there, the sudden action knocking Lady on her butt for a brief moment. "God damn it, I hate it when I'm right sometimes," she yelled in frustration, quickly getting back up and running down the stairs as more of the roof seemed to give way a bit.

Back down in the mall, Takashi and Kohta were able to find some rope to tie Shimada in while Dante had just finished explaining what Shimada had tried to do.

The group leveled glares at said man, who now flinched nervously from their gazes, moreso from Dante as he was thrown by the devil hunter after all. "Alright time to move him somewhere," Takashi said as he finished tying the rope.

Kohta turned towards Asami. "Do you know a good place where-," he nearly said when the roof seemed to explode, pieces of it flying all over the place.

The suddenness of this as well as the danger the debris posed naturally elicited cries of fear from most of the survivors, who were quick to go for cover. Kohta shielded Alice, who was close to him, while Takashi merely threw Shimada to the side so that he wouldn't get crushed.

Dante just stood where he was, stunned by what had come next. The others were equally shocked when a bolt of lightning came through the hole and slammed into the floor. As soon as it struck, it actually took shape, forming some sort of huge, muscled, and armored lizard of sorts. It stood to its full height and began to slowly move its head as if to look around for something worth attacking.

"What the hell is that?" Takashi cried out.

"A Blitz," Dante said, saying almost too quietly to hear, but everyone was able to hear just fine. Dante was trying to figure out why it was here. "How the hell did it get here? It couldn't just be because of the damned thunder storm right?" he thought.

While he was thinking that out, everyone was deathly quiet, not daring to move much at all. However, Shimada, so terrified by the Blitz's appearance that he struggled to get free from the rope, accidently bumped into the wall.

Dante swore as this action had caught the Blitz's attention. The Blitz turned towards the source of the sound, which just so happened to be where Dante and Takashi were also standing, and with a loud, terrifying roar, lunged right at them.

Somewhere else in the city, a group of four Scarecrows were occupied with killing. However, their targets were not humans, but rather many of Them. Moments ago, the Scarecrows were simply shambling down the streets, looking for something living to kill. They had moved right past Them, not attracting any sort of attention at all. In fact, the zombies seemed to have been unconsciously avoiding the demons too as there was always a wide berth for the demons to travel down.

However, as more time past by, it seemed that the undead were starving, so much so that they turned to face the Scarecrows as there weren't many people still alive in the area. The Scarecrows, as dumb as they are, were still able to recognize the walking corpses as threats and had took to cutting them down, blood spattering, limbs flying, and bones being smashed in the process.

That was then when there weren't many of Them around, but more and more were attracted by the noise and now the Scarecrows faced a large crowd of Them that easily took up all of the space of the street. The zombies were slow and were just as frail as normal people compared to the demons, but the Scarecrows were beginning to move slower now, losing stamina at a fast pace due to the sheer number of Them swarming them.

The Scarecrows continued to fight though despite their exhausted state. One of them spun around and cut down several of the zombies with its arms blade while another sliced a zombie clean in two with a swift swipe. Another Scarecrow, one that had a blade on its foot, leapt into the air brought down its blade in a wicked axe kick of sorts, its blade cutting a zombie's head in two before its weight crashed into its body, squashing it underfoot. Blood and cut down bodies littered the streets, with pieces of bone here and there.

However, when the Scarecrow jumped into the air again and performed the same move, as soon as it landed, a zombie that had been cut in two from the waist, had been able to grab its foot. The Scarecrow hadn't seen that coming and so it lost some of its balance long enough for it to be overwhelmed by Them. Its brethren followed shortly as the zombies grabbed the other ones from the side that didn't have a blade attached.

The Scarecrows, while stronger than a human, couldn't handle all of the weight now on top of them and fell to the ground. This left them helpless as the zombies piled on top and began to bite into the sacks that made up their bodies, their black liquid that was supposed to be their blood spurting out as quickly as air out of a balloon.

Some of the Scarecrows still tried to fight back, taking swipes at the zombies on top. Several zombies lost their heads or at least parts of their heads, blood and brains falling out. However, the Scarecrows were quickly losing strength and it was only a matter of seconds before they finally died.

As their bodies began to deflate, more and more zombies began to take more and more bites out of its sack like flesh. However, after a few bites, the zombies slowly but surely began to stand back up before falling backwards, hitting the ground with sick thuds as their weakened skulls cracked from the force.

The zombies then began to shake violently as though they were having seizures before moments later they all stopped moving. Another moment past before all of the ones on the ground suddenly had a small smile on their faces.

Whew, that had taken a while. Thankfully it didn't take as long as the previous chapter for me to do (I think).

This is easily the longest chapter I've done so far! Chances are that they'll be getting even longer too depending on where exactly I decided to end the chapters. What with the zombies and the Blitz demons now making their debut, it most likely that chapters will be longer.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I do hope that you're looking forward to the battle with the Blitz in the next chapter! I'm going to make it as good as I can.

Anyways, thanks for reading and please be sure to leave a review!


	13. Chapter 13

Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I just started college in about the last week or so of August and it took me a while to adjust to it. I'm still adjusting to it, actually.

Anyways, here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 13

The Blitz homed in on the sound, its arms spread out wide for a powerful tackle. Takashi looked on at the approaching creature, his eyes widening in shock at how fast it was moving; he could just barely see it.

He knew right then and there that he wasn't going to be able to do anything to stop it since it was way too fast for him to handle. He began to bring up his arms as quickly as possible to guard against the coming attack, but as soon as he did, Dante, who was still standing next to him, whipped out the Coyote-A and fired right at the Blitz.

The shot struck the Blitz right in the face, making it roar in surprise and come to a stop, looking over in the direction it was fired from. Takashi noted that the shot hadn't damaged it at all, that it had seemed to strike the strange shroud that surrounded the Blitz.

Dante chuckled. "Hey there," Dante said to the Blitz, "didn't think I'd see one of Sparky's relatives here." The Blitz roared at him and in a flash, launched itself at the devil hunter. Dante waited until it was close by and fired again at it when its massive fist was about to hit him. Once again, the shot struck the Blitz's shroud and unlike before, the Blitz didn't stop its attack, forcing Dante to leap away before the attack made contact.

Dante quickly looked around and saw everyone scrambling for cover from the Blitz as its attack had hit a wall and knocked a good chunk of it all over the place, making them all back away as quickly as they can. "Why don't we take this outside, big boy?" Dante taunted and leapt as high as he could, going through the huge hole that the demon had made in the ceiling. He blasted the Blitz again with the Coyote-A to make sure that its attention was still on him.

He certainly didn't have to worry about that for as soon as he had leapt, the Blitz immediately followed, the bullet missing its mark as Dante had aimed for the spot the Blitz had been standing at, not at the blinding fast creature that had now zipped up into the air.

Dante had just barely landed on whatever was left of the roof just as the Blitz made its appearance right behind him and lashed out with a swipe of its arm. Dante had just barely sensed it in time and pulled out Rebellion to block it. He knew that blocking its attack with its shroud still up was stupid seeing how he'd just get shocked from touching it, but he'd rather get a good jolt than be knocked off the building.

Dante hissed in pain from the jolt of the attack, but thankfully for him, he was able to get into a blocking stance in time so that he wasn't knocked back too much from it. He had only skidded back several feet from the blocked hit rather than several meters if it had actually struck.

He took hold of the Coyote-A again and began to charge it up with demonic energy, getting ready to blast the Blitz in the face with a nice old charged shot. He moved towards the edge of the building and jumped off, the Blitz in pursuit.

Dante landed in the parking lot with a nice, quiet landing, but that was quickly replaced with a rough one by the Blitz as Dante rolled out of the way as the creature in question landed hard, its intent having been to crush Dante flat underneath.

Dante quickly got up and whistled, getting the Blitz's attention, not that he needed to. The Blitz reverted to bolt form and charged straight at him. Dante pulled up the shotgun to shoot it, but just as he did so, the Blitz suddenly changed direction and went to the right, moving under Dante's arm. It came to a sudden stop next to him, Dante's back more or less being directly exposed to the demon and the demon took this opportunity to lash out with a fierce punch.

Dante let out a small yell of pain as this time the fist connected. He went flying, but he was able to flip around in mid flight and blast the Blitz right in the face. The shroud crackled intensely as the shot hit it and for a brief second, it flickered. Dante had no doubt that another charged shot or two would bring the shroud down.

However, he knew that doing that would take a while. Although this Blitz was just as fast as any of the other Blitz he's encountered before, it possessed a ferocity far greater than theirs and appeared to be much more cunning than the other ones; normally, they'd just zip around the place and blindly strike, but this one seemed to be trying to keep him on his toes to prevent him from attacking and the dodge maneuver just now was definitely something new.

"Heh, I guess old dogs can learn new tricks," Dante commented as he landed. He stood to his full height, charging the Coyote-A up again. The Blitz growled, it being able to hear the crackling coming from the gun. It took several steps forward before moving in a zig-zag pattern.

Dante smirked; now this was something that he definitely recognized from before. However, the stunt it had pulled just now had made him a bit more cautious so he didn't try anything that he normally would've done. He watched as the Blitz kept moving back and forth between places, it getting closer almost every time before backing away. Dante had to give it credit; it was a hell of a lot smarter than its brethren.

Eventually, the Blitz seemed to grow tired of waiting for Dante to make a move so it lunged straight at him, going down low to try and take down Dante's legs. But the devil hunter had seen the attack coming and leapt over it and shot it right in the back as it past underneath him. He had charged this shot up more than the previous one and so with this shot, the Blitz's shroud fell.

As soon as it did, the Blitz skidded across the ground, the shroud disappearing having sapped it of some of its strength. Dante didn't waste this time given to him. At speeds rivaling the Blitz, he drew Rebellion from his back and charged straight at the fallen demon.

The Blitz had just barely got to its feet when it roared in pain as Dante slashed it right across its massive back. It tried to turn around, but Dante kicked it hard so that it tumbled forward. He jumped into the air and did his Helm Breaker. The sword connected hard with the upper back of the Blitz, eliciting another roar from it, but before Dante could pull back and attack again, the Blitz quickly rolled over, knocking Dante down in the process.

It leapt on top of him and tried to bite the devil hunter's face off with its sharp teeth, but Dante brought up Rebellion in time to stop it. The Blitz thrashed around, trying to get past the sword, but to no avail. Dante kicked it in the stomach to try and knock it back, but doing it from such a close distance prevented him from putting much power behind the attack.

Nevertheless, he tried again and once more after that before delivering a painful elbow to the Blitz's jaw. This time, it got up and staggered back slightly. It growled and Dante began to see sparks of red surrounding the demon. It had finally had enough and was about to go on its suicide run.

Dante wasn't about to let that happen. He launched himself at the creature and slashed it across the face horizontally before bringing Rebellion up to slice it across the chin. This last attack stunned it enough for Dante to summon Pandora while it took a few steps back from the two powerful slashes.

"Here's a trick you can play for me, Sparky junior. Play dead," Dante said as he switched the deadly briefcase into one of his favorite forms for it: PF398: Revenge. Once the briefcase had transformed into its laser cannon form, Dante wasted absolutely no time in firing it. A massive blast shot out and struck the Blitz in the face at point-blank range.

Once the blast dissipated after a few seconds, Dante saw that the demon's head had been completely vaporized, barely anything left of the neck, which demonstrated how powerful the beam was. The Blitz's body stood perfectly still for a moment until Dante tapped it in the chest and knocked the body over. He sighed. "Well, I gotta give it props. It put up a better fight than its dumb cousins," he commented aloud.

"True, but it makes a big mess of things too." Dante turned to see Lady walking out of the mall. "Then again, whenever you fight, things always get trashed," she said with a bit of a smirk.

Dante snickered. "Aw, you couldn't do anything in this situation so you try to insult me," he said playfully.

Lady sighed. "Well excuse me for not being able to react to a demon that literally strikes like lightning. Besides, someone had to stay behind to help keep everyone calm and that isn't something you're good at," she said, that last bit meant as a jab against Dante.

Dante raised an eyebrow. "And just how is everyone doing right now? Anyone shit themselves?"

"They're fine, but they're very shook up. Obviously. Takashi and the others are trying to help that policewoman keep the mall people calm for now. But it's not as if they'll know right away that the Blitz is dead now. And when I do tell them that, they're going to want an explanation," Lady explained.

Dante groaned; he hated having to explain things to people, especially ones like them, what with their state of mind to begin with and all. "I'll be the one to do the talking," Lady said, making Dante smile to himself, but Lady killed whatever relief that he had just felt. "Meanwhile, we can't just leave the Blitz's body here to rot. It'll just freak out the people and that's the last thing they need."

"And what about it? You want me to drag on out of here?" Dante asked. He had said that as a joke, but the look Lady gave him said to him that that was exactly what she wanted. He sighed. As much as he hated to admit it right now, Lady had a point.

Grumbling to himself, he walked over to the Blitz's corpse and picked it up, heaving right over his shoulders. "Sure wish the damn thing had exploded this time, save me the trouble of dragging its ugly ass anywhere," he thought aloud.

As he began to walk away, he noticed that many of Them had been slowly making their way across the huge mall parking lot towards them, undoubtedly because of the noise he and the Blitz created.

Repressing the urge to sigh, Dante jumped as high and as far as he could, the Blitz's dead weight not slowing him down at all. He slammed noisily into the top of a car near the crowd of Them, drawing their attention to him rather than head closer to the mall. "That's right, uglies, let's play follow the leader," Dante said, leaping off of the car and onto another one, this one farther away from the mall than the first one.

Lady watched as Dante did this until he and the most of the zombies were out of sight. She sighed. "Well at least we won't have to worry about the zombies for a while now," she commented to no one in particular, knowing that Dante will definitely keep them all occupied with the noise he was now making. She had to give him credit for one thing: he really knew how to get attention, be it for good or bad.

She headed back inside the mall, careful not to accidently bump into a part of the barricade that covered up the doors. The last thing she wanted was to test how good the zombies' hearing was and have them come back.

However, as soon as she walked in, she found herself surrounded by a few of the mall survivors. "Just what the hell is going on here?" One of them, a lady, practically roared.

"What was that thing?" Another of them said.

Takashi and Kohta, who had apparently been watching over them beforehand, came up to them, Takashi getting in front of Lady and gently pushing the people back. "Alright, alright, I know you want answers, but this isn't the way to get them," he said, trying to reason with them to get them to stand down a bit.

Lady looked a bit thankful for the assist as she didn't want to have to restrain them herself. That would've been time wasted and if the Blitz's appearance meant anything, time may very well be of the essence. She just had this bad feeling that more crazy shit would be going down very soon and she wanted everyone to be aware of this just in case. Better safe than sorry as they always say.

At first, the mall survivors were uncooperative with Takashi and Kohta, but after another moment or two, they finally seemed to give up and back away for now. "Thanks for the help," Lady said to them.

"No problem," Takashi replied with a small smile. Then his expression grew serious. "So is that demon….?"

"It's dead. Dante is hauling its body away somewhere," Lady answered.

Takashi let out a sigh of relief. "That's good," he said.

Kohta nodded in agreement. "But just what kind of demon was that? It looked much more vicious than any of the others we've come across so far," he pointed out.

Lady faced him. "That was a Blitz. A demon of a higher caliber than the ones you've seen so far. As I'm sure you saw, it can turn into lightning."

He shivered. "Yeah, I saw that." He paused for a moment. "It was blind wasn't it? It relied on sound to move, just like Them?"

Lady nodded. "Yeah. It'll immediately lock on to whatever makes a sound and by any sound, I mean any sound. If the sound came from a living thing, then it won't hesitate to attack with everything its got."

"Sounds pretty damn vicious," Takashi commented. It certainly looked vicious too when he saw it move; the thing was like a berserker.

"It is and its aggressiveness makes it a very dangerous one to fight and that's not even taking into account its speed and strength. However, it can't discern between humans and its fellow demons so sometimes it ends up attacking its comrades." Lady sighed, knowing that not long from now she'd have to explain this again along with everything else to the others.

Takashi and Kohta started walking back to where everyone else went as soon as the Blitz had left, Lady following right behind them. "Is that so? Well, that's a bit of an advantage then," Kohta said.

"Yeah. But I'd rather not have to see one of those again," Takashi muttered to himself, but Kohta and Lady heard him anyway. They both chuckled a bit.

They walked the rest of the way in silence until they got to a big, open restaurant in the food court. Everyone was gathered there. Saya, Rei, Saeko, Shizuka, Alice, and the mall survivors were all waiting around for them, some of them having looks of fear or concern upon their faces.

As soon as Kohta, Takashi, and Lady were within sight, they all looked up at Lady, expecting an explanation. Lady sighed. "Maybe I should've tried to drag the body away instead," she thought to herself. She sat down in the closest chair and almost immediately, the mall survivors moved closer. Trying not to sigh again, Lady waited until she was sure they weren't going to start yelling out questions. Then she began to speak.

Meanwhile, Dante was now several blocks away from the mall, still carrying the Blitz's corpse. He was busy knocking down and sometimes killing off the zombies that followed so he didn't know how far he was just yet.

He had just sliced a zombie straight down the center with Rebellion, keeping his distance somewhat so that its blood wouldn't stain his clothes, when he noticed that he was now finally alone. Looking down the street he had just came from, he saw that it was littered with the cleaved bodies of many of Them.

Dante snickered. "They sure ain't like their cousins in Twenty Eight Days Later," he remarked as he took in the sight of the now blood spattered street. He didn't know that blood could fly out of the human body so easily when it was basically dead already.

Looking down at his sword, he saw that some blood and pieces of fragile bone had gotten on it. Giving Rebellion a quick shake to get it all off, Dante looked around for a place to put down the Blitz's body. He was amazed at how hard it was to find a relatively big place to put it at.

Normally, instead of playing the role of undertaker, he'd just blow the body to bits and be done with it, but then if he did, the noise would just attract more of the undead and while he could cut his way through them all day, there were better things to do with his time. That was the only reason why he didn't just whip out Pandora again to finish the job.

He walked down the street further until he had finally come across a dumpster big enough to fit the massive demon in. "About damn time," he thought.

Walking up to it, he lightly kicked open the lid and as soon as it flew open, Dante dropped the demon's corpse right in, the dead weight of it being enough to make the entire dumpster shake violently. The lid slammed shut of its own accord as a result. However, it didn't close all the way due to an arm sticking right out. At first Dante thought about pushing the arm inside, but decided against it.

"Not like it matters. Hell, maybe it'll help keep the rats full so that people won't have to bitch about them ever again," he said to himself.

He was about to start making his way back to the mall, but he then stopped mid-step. He had heard something, like a blade being dragged. He sighed, figuring that it was just another Scarecrow. However, as he turned around to where the sound was coming from, he heard another one just like that and then another one. A few seconds later, he was hearing at least several blades beings dragged.

Normally, he'd be feeling like his cocky self, but he didn't right now. Something was off about the blades. Normally, he'd be able to hear the lumbering footsteps of the Scarecrows, but not this time and that was odd. He figured that the Scarecrows were either a hell of a lot lighter than before or that they finally stopped acting so damn klutzy. "Or it's something else entirely," Dante thought.

He decided to wait it out, let them come to him. The sounds grew louder as they got closer. Dante wasn't even remotely intimidated by the sounds, which couldn't be said about other people. If anything, he grew a bit impatient.

However, before he could say anything snarky to whatever was approaching, he finally saw something. The sight he saw made his eyes widen in surprise. Coming from around the street corner was one of the many rotting zombies that infested the city. However, it was unlike any of the other undead roaming around. This one had some slight characteristics that reminded Dante of Scarecrows. Its left arm seemed to have split open, a blade sticking out from the open spot, coated in its own blood. One of the zombie's legs looked a little twisted, looking more like that of a Scarecrow demon's as well. Parts of its chest and face also seemed to have taken on the looks of a Scarecrow's 'skin', pieces of rag-like material covering small bits of face.

Dante snorted in disgust; he could've sworn that just now the rag-like pieces of flesh moved as if something was underneath it. he stared at the strange thing before him before remembering that there were more scraping sounds. Looking over to the corner, he saw more zombies with Scarecrow-like qualities just like the one in front him approach. Some of them groaned, their voices sounding like a cross between their original voices and the guttural sounds of the Scarecrow demons.

"Well… this is new," Dante said to the approaching bunch, for once unable to come up with anything witty.

The strange new breed of zombies merely groaned in response. Dante took this time to count how many there were. "Seven total," he summarized.

No sooner than he counted did the one at the front of the group launched itself at Dante. Dante, while having not expected it to be capable of such speed now, was still far faster than it could ever possibly be. The demonified zombie swung down its blade arm at Dante, but the devil hunter easily parried the attack and responded with the draw of the Coyote-A. he took aim at its head and pulled the trigger, blowing its entire head right off.

Dante watched as its blood spattered across some of the other new zombies along with some of the same black liquid that Scarecrows had as well as parts of whatever was left of its human skull.

Dante snickered; while these new zombies seemed faster and - judging by the force of the swing just now – stronger than the normal ones, they still had the exact same weakness: the head.

Dante, not wanting to prolong this and also wanting to let the others know of this rather startling development, charged straight at the remaining six. As he came in close, two of them ran forward to meet him head on and tried to slash his head off. Whether or not this attempt of theirs was an intentional form of payback for their fallen brethren or not was something Dante would never know, but he didn't care. He ducked under their arms, the blades just barely missing the top of his head. Turning around suddenly, he pulled Rebellion from his back and swung with both hands, slicing their heads horizontally in two.

As the top part of their heads slid off to the ground with a sickening squish, Dante placed Rebellion behind him in time to stop another one from stabbing him. Without turning to face it, Dante pulled out Ivory in his left hand and fired several times into the demonified zombie's face. Some of the black liquid and blood flew onto Dante's coat, but he didn't pay it any mind right now.

The remaining three then surrounded Dante, one covering his right side while the other was about to attack from his left. Meanwhile the last one, which had its blade protruding from its knee, jumped into the air to try and lobe Dante's head off.

Dante reached out to the one above him and grabbed it by its blade. Pulling it hard, he swung it around in a big circle, smashing it hard into the other two. He let go as soon as he heard their bodies hit each other. The zombies flew and slammed into and through a nearby wall.

Dante waited several seconds to see if it had done the trick, but saw that it hadn't; they were still moving around. However, they had hit the wall very hard and seemed to have some trouble getting back up due to the blades that replaced one of their limbs as well as the new form of their feet.

Dante stood there, watching them struggle to get up before finally walking up to them and whipping out Ebony and Ivory. Without any hesitation, he opened fire, blasting away the upper parts of their head.

He watched their bodies slump to the ground right after that and slowly began to walk away, trying to fully process what he had just seen. Somehow, these zombies were able to gain demonic qualities, thereby boosting their overall power. While not enough to pose more of a threat to Dante or even Lady, Dante knew that if there were more of these things, then things could become hectic.

"Well…. Fuck," Dante said. Sighing, he began to make his way back to the mall, wondering just how Lady and the others would take this news.

And there we go! Hope that you guys liked the battle between Dante and the Blitz. I know that it did seem somewhat easy for Dante at some parts, but given how he casually reacted to the Blitz in the DMC4 cutscene in which it was introduced, I figured that a fight between them would turn out like that.

And I please let me know what you think of these new versions of zombies too. From the get-go I never planned to make demons the main baddies of the whole fic as some of you have pointed out that that is somewhat overdone in other fics, a point that I wholeheartedly agree on. Nevertheless, I do hope my solution to avoiding the problem of doing that particular cliché is one that you liked so really, please let me know what you thought of the demon-zombies.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please be sure to review.


	14. Chapter 14

Ugghhhh…. College is something of a pain to me. It's much less ball busting than I thought (so far at least), but it's still taking up a good amount of my time. The only thing keeping me going right now is that the end result will be worth it once I graduate…. A few years from now anyway…

But enough of my whining! At least I can still enjoy doing what I love doing in my free time!

Anyways, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 14

Lady sighed, sitting down along with the rest of the group in a clothes store. She had just finished explaining the whole situation to the mall survivors and they were unsurprisingly angry, confused, and scared about it. They had started yelling at the group when Lady had gone into detail of how they had encountered quite a bunch of demons on the way to the mall, but the mall survivors shut up when Lady pointed out that if they don't put aside their anger and start working together, their chances of survival would be pretty damn low.

That had shut them up, but it had been clear that they were still upset. Lady was thankful that Dante wasn't the one to have told them otherwise they might have pissed him off enough for him to whack them all over the head with the blunt side of Rebellion. "Here," Rei said, handing Lady a soda that she had managed to get from the food court.

"Thanks," Lady replied.

"So what do we do now? Whatever trust they may have had in us is undoubtedly gone now and that is something that may affect how things go for us here," Saeko pointed out, leaning up against a wall.

Lady took a few sips from her soda before answering. "That is true, but right now trust doesn't matter. All that matters is sticking together until we can get through this whole mess. They may not like it, but they understand that much at least."

Saeko and the others all nodded in agreement, except for Saya. "We can't be too sure of that. Just because they understand what needs to be done doesn't mean they'll do it. Like we all saw earlier, they were yelling at that Asami woman about being useless when they themselves weren't doing anything to really help out."

"But some of them were gathering up food to store," Kohta pointed out.

Saya sighed. "Gathering food to eat until help comes and actively doing something about the situation are two different things. And while I think that, despite their mental states, they could actually make it through Them if needed, they won't stand a chance against demons."

"Not that we're doing any better," Rei muttered as she rolled her eyes, "whenever we came across those things, it was mainly Takashi, Lady-san, and Dante-san that took care of them. The only time we actually fought them was when we were stuck outside of that wire barricade"

Lady, having finished the rest of her soda, stood up. "That's only because Dante and I have years of experience fighting demons. None of you do save for the times you've encountered them so far. It'll just take you all some time to get used to fighting them."

"Yeah, but time isn't exactly on our side. We still have to make sure our families are okay," Takashi said, gesturing to Rei and Kohta. He also wondered briefly if his parents were okay right now. He couldn't imagine what would happen if they ever ran into any demons. Running into zombies was already worrisome enough.

"Don't worry about that just now. Focus on the current problems we have and then when we're sure we're out of this mess, you can worry about your families," Lady said throwing the soda can away. She turned towards Takashi. "And besides, you're not as defenseless as before. You have the devil arm that Dante gave you. That will give you an advantage you didn't have before and so your chances of survival are higher now."

"What's a devil arm?" Kohta asked.

"It's a weapon formed from the soul of a powerful demon," Lady told him.

That seemed to make everyone there a bit nervous. "Is it safe?" Shizuka asked, Alice sitting in a chair next to her with Zeke in her lap.

"If you're worried that it will suddenly turn into a demon, then don't worry, it won't. Once a demon becomes a devil arm, that's it for them. They can never turn back to normal," Lady assured her.

That seemed to assure Shizuka a bit. "So you have one now?" she asked Takashi, who nodded in response.

"Can we see?" Kohta asked, intrigued by it.

Takashi pondered it for a second before deciding to agree. Closing his eyes for a moment, Takashi began to focus on making them appear. Almost as soon as he thought his request, he felt them reappear. The surprised gasps of the others confirmed it for him as he opened his eyes. He looked at his hands to see the gauntlets and he then extended his arms outwards for them to see. "So what do you think?" he asked.

"Whoa," Kohta simply said.

Saeko moved forward and took hold of the gauntlet, tracing some of its linings with her fingers, her eyes showing that she was concentrating on the gauntlet. Takashi, not exactly used to her being so close to him and in when she was in such a focused state, blushed, much to Rei's annoyance. "Uh, Saeko?"

These two words were enough to break her out of littler trance and she moved back, her face slightly red. Rei's face was as red as Saeko's only, for a different reason. "Wow, onii-chan, that's cool!" Alice said, her eyes sparkling with child like interest.

Takashi scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he turned to her. "Yeah, I guess it's cool, but I haven't had a chance to really try them out yet."

Kohta now came up to inspect it. "Well, it looks cool, but does it do anything special?" he asked.

"Well, according to Dante, it makes me hit harder and move faster," Takashi answered.

"Okay, so it increases your abilities like how you can increases stats in a video game. But how much of an increase are we talking about here? That could make a difference, you know," Kohta pointed.

Takashi rubbed his chin. "Don't know, but those weird demons with the blade arms should be easy enough to take down now. Come to think of it, I had an easy time taking them down before."

"Scarecrows are certainly stronger than humans and those blades of theirs are very sharp, but they move slowly and aren't too smart so it's really no wonder why you have such an easy time with them. The only thing you have to worry about with them is numbers," Lady said.

"Speaking of demons, just what was that thing from earlier?" Saya asked.

Everyone else turned to Lady, realizing that they had forgotten about the Blitz in the aftermath of Dante taking the fight outside. "Remember what Dante said after leaving the mansion?"

"About fighting demons that rely on hearing rather than sight," Saya said, remembering Dante's words.

"The demon from just now was the one he was talking about. It's called a Blitz and as you all saw, it certainly lives up to the name," Lady explained.

"No kidding," Takashi muttered.

Lady ignored him. "It can cover itself in a lightning shroud, which lets it zip around the place just like lightning itself. Combined with its tremendous strength, its attacks are truly devastating. However, it's blind so it has to rely on hearing and that lets us confuse it," she said simply.

"So then if we end up fighting another, we could possibly win?" Rei asked.

Saya looked at her and sighed. "Didn't you just hear what she just said? The thing could move at the speed of lightning. No human could ever hope to react to something that fast. It's actually a miracle that we were even able to see it come through the ceiling."

"Just how fast is lightning anyway?" Takashi asked.

"About a hundred and forty thousand miles an hour," Saya replied, not glancing at him.

Takashi's eyes widened in shock as he recalled that he was actually able to see the Blitz move just a little bit, which showed him just how good his senses were now.

"Yeah, impressive shit, ain't it?" They all turned to see Dante approach. Looks like he had just gotten back.

"Took you a while to get back," Lady commented. She expected a witty response or something to her statement, but was surprised to see that not only did Dante not say anything, but look rather serious. "Something wrong?"

Dante went to the nearest chair and slumped onto it, sighing. "Kinda. I ran into a small group of those zombies."

"That doesn't seem too bad," Rei commented.

"Yeah, you'd think that at first. Thing is though, these things were part demon now. Specifically, part Scarecrow." Dante looked at the shocked expressions of the group.

"Part Scarecrow?" Kohta nearly exclaimed. "You mean that they're eating demons now?"

Dante shrugged. "Who knows? I didn't see how they got that way. I just know that they got some bits of demon in them now and it made them tougher than before."

They all fell silent for a bit. "How much tougher are we talking here?" Lady asked, concerned about this. This could really pose a problem for them in the near future.

"Not much, but they were definitely stronger and faster than they were before. And they also got blades just like the Scarecrows. Good thing is that their off switch is still the same," Dante replied.

"So they can still be taken out by destroying the brains," Lady said, more to herself than to anyone else. Dante just nodded.

"Crap, that sounds bad," Takashi said.

"Agreed," Saeko said, thinking of what this information means. "If they are now eating demons and are becoming more like them as a result, that would definitely make fighting them harder."

"I wouldn't go that far," Dante replied, "they were still pretty easy to put to sleep."

"But what if they encountered one of the stronger demons and ate them?" Saeko brought up.

That shut Dante up. He had thought of that on the way back, but hearing it being said aloud really brought the seriousness of this to light. It seemed that everyone else had the same thing on their mind too. Takashi, for one, slightly shuddered at the thought of Them being more like the Assaults. The thought of super agile zombies was something that he certainly didn't want to be a reality.

"That…. would be bad," he said aloud, knowing how what he just said was something of an understatement.

Lady lightly slammed her fist on a nearby table. "Crap, if it isn't one thing it's another." She looked at Dante. "Where did you fight them at?"

He looked at her, slightly confused. "Dunno. Some street with a dumpster big enough for me to squeeze the damn Blitz in." A thought then occurred to the devil hunter. "You want to see one of bad boys up close, huh?"

Lady nodded. "Yeah. I want to see what it looks like."

"Uh huh. Yeah, not doing it," Dante replied.

Lady narrowed her eyes at him. "Why not?"

"You really expect me to remember my way back to that place? You know that I'm not gonna remember a street name if there's not gonna be another party there." Dante stood to his full height.

Lady was about ready to say something to him when Dante suddenly changed the subject. "So you guys tell the group about our little buddies in the night?"

That certainly stopped what Lady had planned to say cold. "Yes," she said after a moment.

Dante chuckled at the somewhat sour expression on Lady's face. "They must have really been grabbing your shit." Then he grew serious. "Speaking of the group, where's that guy?"

They all knew he was talking about Shimada. Before the Blitz showed up, they were all fully intent on throwing the man into the basement or something, but afterwards, they all decided along with the mall survivors to cut him loose from the ropes, but he's still being locked up in one of the stores, one of them having found a key that can open and lock the doors of each store. When they locked him up, they made sure that some of the lights in the store were off permanently. Lady had been the one to suggest this in order to keep Shimada shook up so that he really learns his lesson.

"In one of the stores," Takashi said.

Dante nodded in response. "Huh, that's good. Kinda surprised the dude's still breathing. I thought the group would rip him a new one and throw him out."

Then his eyes narrowed as he turned around, looking off in some random direction. They all took note of the change. Something seemed wrong. "What is it?" Saeko asked, her face growing stern.

Dante didn't answer at first, opting instead to start walking away. "Not sure."

Meanwhile, the man they were just speaking of was currently slumped up against the wall of the store. He sighed, now regretting his earlier actions having now had the time to think on it. "Fuck," he whispered to himself, "Things have really gone to shit."

He had been locked up in a sporting goods store and after a while, Shimada took the time to look around the isles for something of interest, but that had ended disappointedly. There was nothing good to keep him occupied.

After a moment, Shimada stood up, figuring that he might as well explore the back of the store since he hadn't checked that out. He was always curious about what was back in the employees only section anyway.

He took a few careful steps at first as half of the lights in the store weren't working and Shimada didn't want to stub his toe or something. After making sure that he wasn't in any danger of hurting his toes, he made his way towards the employees only door and tried the door handle. It was locked, but Shimada didn't feel like lazing around so he took a few steps back and ran forward a bit, kicking the door as hard as he could. The lock gave way under the force of his kick and the door swung open, Shimada massing his foot a bit due to how sturdy the door was.

"Damn," he muttered. Quickly shaking off the slight pain, he walked through the door. He sighed, for as soon as he walked past the door, there was nothing but darkness. It would seem that the lights in the back weren't on or simply didn't work. Shimada moved towards the wall, trying to feel for a switch to turn on the lights, but he didn't feel anything. Cursing once more, he decided to forget the lights and just move on.

Keeping his hand up against the wall so that he somewhat knows where he's going, he finds a stairway heading down to the basement. "Might as well check it out. Better than sitting around anyway." Shimada made a move for the stairs, but unfortunately, he didn't notice that the steps were wet with water and he ended up slipping. He let out a cry as he fell down the stairs, his body hitting the steps rather hard.

A few seconds later, he landed on the hard basement floor, side first. He moaned in pain, feeling a bit of blood coming from his mouth. It would appear that he had cut a lip open on the way down. He tried to move to wipe the blood away, but the action hurt his arm quite a bit. Groaning, he stood slowly, clutching the arm that he landed on. "Shit!" he yelled.

He hoped that he could make his way back up the stairs and get someone to check out his arm or something because he certainly didn't want to risk finding out if he had a fracture the hard way. As he began to start making his way up the stairs, he heard a strange noise. It sounded like a whoosh, as though a breeze was passing through.

He turned to look, but saw nothing. Writing it off as a trick of his imagination, he turned back around, but once again, he heard the same sound. This time though, he felt a chill run up his spine in the process. Shivering, Shimada again turned to see what made the sound, but saw nothing once more.

Now he was very worried. What if those zombies were down here? What if it was one of those demon things that had been talked about earlier when that lady explained? These were just two of several questions running through his head.

He saw something out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned, there was nothing. Another thing moved, but when he turned there, he was met with the same result. Another chill overcame him and this time, when something moved, he saw it this time.

Out of the wall came what appeared to be a coat of some sorts, a coat that reminded Shimada very much of the usual depictions of the grim reaper. It was as black as coal and it wisped around as though wind was blowing it.

As it came further out from the wall, Shimada took a few steps back as what looked like a face popped out, resembling some sort of ugly looking bug with dark blue eyes. "Oh my god…." He whispered as the thing flitted closer to him.

He took another step back, but tripped over something and fell on his butt, but was far too scared of this thing before him to feel the pain. He had no doubt in his mind that this was a demon and at that thought, he screamed. Feeling a surge of adrenaline suddenly come over him, he jumped up and made a run for it right up the stairs.

"Oh god, oh god!" he yelled.

The demon – a Faust – looked up at Shimada's running form. Looking at the moving man for a moment, it raised a deathly thin arm from under its shadowy cloak and before Shimada knew what struck him, a finger had extended from the hand and right through Shimada's leg.

He cried in pain and fell face first on the stair step, but the adrenaline running through him allowed for him to shrug off the pain quickly and crawl as fast as he could up the steps. He didn't get very far before he was struck again, this time through his left hand. He gasped in pain as the finger slowly retracted and blood began to seep from the hole.

Looking back, he saw the Faust floating eerily up the stairs before hearing the same breezey sound from before coming from in front of him. Whipping his head around, he saw another Faust emerge from the stairs itself, very close to him.

"N-no… please…" he muttered out. The Faust, now fully materialized, made no movement in response to Shimada's plea.

Raising its hand after a moment, it aimed its index finger right at the man's forehead. The last thing Shimada was able to do before his life was ended was look at his demonic killer in horror, an expression that stayed on his face even after his head fell forward onto the step.

After Shimada was killed, the Faust turned around, towards the top of the stairs. It waited until its brethren from down below show up next to it, followed shortly by another that appeared from the wall. Once the three were side by side, they made their way up the stairs.

And that's a rap! Ah, I can't believe it took this long for me to get this done. Damn, college really does take up some serious time. Ah, hope you can forgive me for that.

And I apologize for basically making this a talking chapter, but given the circumstances, I feel that it'd be best to end it here so that I wouldn't take too long to post this. Hopefully in future chapters, I will be able to make chapters have an even balance of talking and fighting.

And I'm not entirely sure about the speed of lighting that I mentioned in the chapter as that was something I looked up on Wikipedia and a few other sites. If someone would confirm if what I typed is accurate, I'd be most grateful.

Anyways, I hope you were able to enjoy the chapter and please leave a review.


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry for another wait. Just got through doing a bunch of assignments and a test or two recently and those kinda things always take up a bit of time. All that's left now is a little speech outline, but that'll be easy. Then again, I am going to have to present it….

Alrighty, here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.

P.S. Thank you once more, Ultimate-Zelda-fan for pointing out my mistake in calling the demons Fausts instead of Mephistos. Can't believe I got them mixed up like that. I really gotta start replaying DMC4 soon….

Chapter 15

Takashi sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "That sure was an intense talk," he remarked. In the little time he had known Dante, he had never seen him look so serious. Not that he could blame him for it given the little info he had for them. Zombies were bad enough, but demonic ones were worse. Seeing how Dante didn't know exactly how many there are right now, Takashi couldn't help but wonder if the others were feeling just as panicked on the inside as he is right now.

He walked down the aisles of a guitar store, hoping that looking around would ease his mind a bit. He was having no luck with that so far. He kept walking down the aisles until he came across a guitar much like the one that his friend Morita had. "Morita…" Takashi thought sadly. He was sad to admit, but he had completely forgotten about the poor guy and his other friends in the wake of this crazy new world. Takashi remembered all of the times he, Morita, and a few other guys would hang out on the roof and talk about a bunch of different stuff. He chuckled as he remembered a time where Morita was reading off a list of girls that he deemed to be the hottest at their school. Looking back on that day, he had to keep himself from laughing himself to death when he recalled Morita saying how he wished to see Saeko in an apron and thong, while Takashi himself did get to see that, despite him having said that it'll never happen.

Takashi also recalled how Morita would practice guitar on the roof almost all the time too. "I wonder if I can do that same rift," he pondered, remembering the little tune that Morita was practicing. Picking up the guitar, Takashi mentally replayed the rift in his head, trying to remember the little he had learned about playing guitar from Morita.

Taking in a deep breath, Takashi played the notes that he thought were it. He winced a bit as soon as he played them; they were the right notes, but he had played them out of order. Tryin again, he almost got it, only messing up a few notes. The third time he tried it, he got it right. "There we go," he muttered happily. He played the rift a few more times, a sort of tribute to Morita. "Hope that at least you died quickly," Takashi thought as he had seen a zombified Morita when he and the others had made a run from the school.

"Wow, onii-chan, I didn't know you could play the guitar!" Alice said, having come into the store when he wasn't paying attention. Her sudden voice had snapped him out of his thoughts and nearly made him yelp.

"Well, aren't you just full of surprises?" Saya said, having followed Alice into the store. She had an appraising smirk on her face that made Takashi chuckle sheepishly a bit.

"Ah, yeah, thanks. But it's not as if I can play really well or anything. I picked up the rift from a buddy named Morita," he explained. Now that he thought about it, Morita did tell him how he was going to ask Saya out for the third time or so the last time they spoke.

"Huh? Who's Morita?" Saya asked, puzzled.

Takashi looked at her in shock. She forgot all about him? "Just how do you forget about a guy who has asked you out three times?" he thought, feeling bad for Morita. Poor guy didn't deserve to be forgotten so easily. "Don't you remember him?" he asked.

"No. Why? Am I supposed to know him?" Saya responded while Alice started asking Takashi for an encore.

Takashi could not believe his ears; Saya truly has no idea who Morita was. He now felt really bad for the guy. "Ah, never mind," he replied, deciding not to push the issue.

He shifted his focus back to the guitar and started to play random notes, trying to see if he can play some parts from songs he knew. Saya and Alice seemed to sense the change in his mood and fell silent as well.

"Hey Saya, how long do you think this place will hold out?" Takashi asked after a moment.

"Originally, I'd say this mall could hold out for weeks what with the food and all, but given the recent events, I honestly don't know anymore," she answered, crossing her arms under her ample chest.

"Yeah… thought you'd say that." Takashi sighed. "If it isn't one thing, it's another," he muttered as he placed the guitar back where it was before.

"Well I think everything will turn out fine!" Alice exclaimed, trying to keep the mood good with her optimism.

Takashi laughed. "Yeah, I hope things do turn out alright." He ruffled her hair while grinning. Alice giggled, happy in knowing that she got Takashi to feel better. And she knew that Saya felt a little better too, but she tried to hide the smirk on her face that appeared when Alice said what she said.

"Hey, don't go getting ahead of yourself, you little brat. There's plenty to do before we can say something like that," Saya said, but in a more amused tone of voice rather than a condescending way.

Takashi smirked; he remembered how Saya really wasn't one to like kids, but right now, it was clear to him that she had grown fond of Alice. He couldn't really blame her either; Alice just had something about her that made people like her upon first meeting her.

"She's got a point. How about we go what the others are doing and if they could use some help in stocking up?" he said to Alice.

"Alright!" she said enthusiastically. And at that, they all exited the store.

Dante, meanwhile, was busy making his way to the store they had locked Shimada up in. Earlier when they were talking, he felt a bad vibe going on and wanted to check it out. He sure didn't want another demon to attack the place; he didn't want to be hounded by the mall survivors like Lady.

"You sure you want to check on Shimada-san, Dante-san?" Asami, who had the keys to the locked store, asked him.

Dante nodded. "Yeah. Something's up and I don't want to wait for it to come bite us in the ass when we're not looking."

Asami got a thoughtful look on her face and nodded. They continued walking in silence for a while and it wasn't long before they got to the store. Asami fumbled through the keys to find the right one, trying out several keys on the lock in a somewhat frazzled hurry. Her childish attitude throughout this process made it hard for Dante to suppress a laugh.

She eventually got the right key and the gate soon popped up for Dante to walk through. "There you go, Dante-san!" Asami said happily at having finally gotten the right key.

Dante shook his head in amusement before growing stern. He felt that strange vibe again. Something was up. He took a few steps into the store before stopping. "Asami-san," he began, "when will your superior get back?" he asked.

He watched as his sudden question caught the young, childish officer by surprise and Asami began to start stuttering out words. "W-w-w-well, I-I'm sure sh-she'll be b-back soon," she muttered out, averting her eyes.

Dante couldn't believe how horrible a liar she was. He could tell that something was up. "She's dead, isn't she?" he asked almost solemnly.

His guess appeared to be on the mark as he saw Asami's face shift to surprise then to shame. Asami looked up at him and appeared to be about to say something to contradict his guess, but then looked down again. "Yes," she said softly.

Dante sighed. "Great. Looks like we're on our own for now." He couldn't believe their luck. He and the others got here, thinking they will finally be able to get some more help and get to a safe zone or something, but now that wasn't the case. And it was bad enough that there's no help coming, but the fact that Asami had been lying to everyone made it worse despite her good intentions of keeping their hopes up. Of course, him, Lady, and Saya knew that something was wrong.

"You plan to tell the others any time soon?" he asked.

"Not really. I mean, I don't want to-," Asami began.

"-Worry them. Yeah, good intention, but if you don't tell them the truth soon, it'll come around to get ya," Dante replied. Asami stood still for a moment before nodding and walking off, her head still down. Dante sighed; he really hoped things don't get any worse with the survivors. At this point, they were already walking time bombs given their mental state.

"Let's get this show on the road," he said to himself as he brought himself to focus back on the task at hand. He scanned around the general area in front of him, hoping to see Shimada sleeping or something to put him at ease, but had no such luck. Shimada must be in the back then.

Walking forward, Dante stayed alert, ready to fight at a second's notice. He looked behind the cash register counter in case the man was curled up there, but that was a no go. After that, Dante walked to the door marked employees only and immediately noticed that it was open. "Looks like the guy wanted to explore a bit," he remarked.

He went through the door and kept on walking despite how dark it was. Dante wasn't worried about bumping into anything; his senses were considerably sharper than a human's and so had no problem seeing. Noticing stairs, Dante made his way to them and started walking down, but as soon as he took a few steps and looked further on down, he saw Shimada. This would have been a good thing if not for the fact that he was dead, a few holes in his body, blood flowing from them quite a bit, making it easy to guess that the holes had both an entrance and exit.

Dante recognized the wounds immediately, having seen them before on a handful of occasions. "Shit!" he muttered and with that, he ran back up the stairs, intent on getting to the others before their guests could.

As Dante discovered Shimada's body, Takashi, Saya, and Alice were currently with the mall survivors. They had tried to find Kohta or one of the others, but they had ended up running into them first, much their dismay; they really didn't feel like dealing with them right now.

"Can we help you?" Takashi asked, his voice showing a lack of interest in the situation.

One of the mall survivors stepped forward. "Leave this place now!" he said.

Takashi and Saya looked rather surprised while Alice jumped back a bit from how viciously the man said it. Saya narrowed her eyes at him. "Why should we?" she demanded.

"Things were going fine until you all showed up and now we have these… these demons running around and we didn't see them until you came here," he explain. Some of the others behind him nodded their heads in agreement.

"But you can't blame us for that!" Takashi exclaimed, taking a step forward, "demons were showing up all over the place now. You would have run into them sooner or later anyways."

"Bull shit! Why the hell would we leave here?" was the comeback.

Takashi was really beginning to feel annoyed. "That's not what I meant and you know it. demons would have busted into this place eventually."

"How would you know that? You're just a kid!" That statement nearly set Takashi off. He was so sick and tired of people using his age against him. Just because he was younger than a majority of them doesn't mean he is clueless on how to do things.

He made a move forward, but stopped when Saya placed a hand on his shoulder. "Forget it. Let them try things on their own," she said coldly. It would seem that she felt the same way he did, only with more self-control.

Takashi looked back at her for a brief moment before looking back to find the man glaring at him, something that Takashi returned. A second later, he sighed and started to walk away from the mall survivors, Alice at his side while Saya lagged behind a bit to give the group a glare of her own before walking faster to catch up with the two.

"I swear those people…" Saya began. However, she didn't continue her sentence as she found herself slamming into Takashi's back. Nearly falling on her butt, she regained her balance, fixed her glasses which nearly fell off and gazed at Takashi. She would have made some sort of rude comment, but something about how still he was made her worry a bit. "What is it?" she asked.

Takashi didn't answer. "Onii-chan?" Alice asked, feeling worried herself.

Takashi once again didn't respond, his eyes instead looking straight ahead as though something was there. He didn't make any sort of motion, not a single twitch or blink. "Takashi?" Saya asked, now really feeling worried.

She didn't receive an answer. Concerned that something was wrong with him, she was about to turn back around and try to get the group to help her or something – as much as she didn't want to – when Takashi finally responded. "Something is wrong."

"What?" She was taken aback by his sudden short statement.

Takashi turned around slightly to look at her. "I… feel something coming," he said, not entirely sure how to say what he was feeling.

Saya stood still for a moment, knowing that if Takashi was acting this way, then something really was wrong. Despite this, she really couldn't help but wonder just what was the problem now. After all, they've already had to deal with getting along with the mall survivors, the attempted rape of Shizuka, and most recently the Blitz followed by having to explain the existence of demons to the people, so it was only natural for her to wonder what else could be next.

"What are you talking ab-?" she let a yelp of sorts as Takashi suddenly grabbed Alice with one arm and practically tackled her before she could finish the sentence. Just as he did so, Saya saw something suddenly shoot out from the left to where her head had just been.

Just as they were about to hit the floor, Takashi rolled so that he would take the brunt of the impact, leaving Saya and Alice unharmed. Standing up quickly and letting go of the two girls, he looked to what he could only describe as some sort of glowing line. "What the hell is that?" he wondered.

He watched the 'line' detract at such a speed that he doubted Saya or the mall survivors nearby, who had bore witness to the whole thing just now, were able to see it move. Looking to where it came from, Takashi saw it actually go through the wall. "The fuck?" he muttered.

Before anyone could move, another one of the 'lines' shot out right at Takashi, moving even faster than before. Acting purely on instinct, Takashi brought up his hands and slam it over the incoming line, practically catching it just as the tip was mere inches away from his face. He knew that he could heal from things that would be fatal to normal people – the stab through the heart Dante gave him when they first met proved this – but he had no intention of seeing whether this same regenerative power of his applied when stabbed through the head.

The line started to struggle to break free from his grip and worm its way closer to his face, Takashi grunting in effort to keep it still, but whatever it was, it was feisty. Then, a strange shadow seemed to appear on the wall where it came from and slowly, but surely, a Mephisto emerged.

The mall survivors immediately began to back up, wanting to get as far away as possible, yet they dared not run, afraid that doing so would make the Mephisto turn its attention on them if or when it got free of Takashi's grasp.

Saya and Alice were scared too, but hid their fear better than the survivors, instead thinking of ways to help. "Hey, brat, go upstairs and get the others!" Saya yelled at Alice. Alice whipped around, looking at her in surprise. Saya could tell from a glance that Alice didn't want to leave them, but she wasn't going to have that happen. "Go!"

Alice flinched from the yell, but nodded. "R-right!" She took off running as fast as she could.

As soon as she was on the move, Saya immediately began to look around for something to use. The gun her mom had given her was hidden along with the other weapons and only Kohta knew where they were since he was the one to hide them. Deciding that she was better off just going with Alice to get Kohta or someone, she rushed off as well, vowing to return as soon as possible with help.

Takashi, on the other hand, was too busy keeping the now obvious finger of the Mephisto from getting any closer to pay attention. "Damn it! If I let go, this thing will get me, but if I just keep holding on, I'm screwed anyway!" he thought. To prove his point, the Mephisto drew closer, its cloak literally sweeping through the floor as it came in low.

Suddenly, the finger retracted right out of Takashi's hand. "Oh shit!" he yelled as the Mephisto raised its other hand and fired another finger. Thankfully for him, the angle it was coming at allowed enough movement for him to dodge, which he did by ducking down low to avoid it while also moving to the right.

Takashi charged forward at the demon, fist cocked back. However, much to his surprise, when he closed the distance and let loose, he found himself going right through it. Having not expected this, he nearly lost his balance from how he swung his fist, but was quick to correct it before running into the wall. But as soon as he turned around, he had to jump to avoid another finger strike, one that pierced right through the wall as though it wasn't even there.

Sparing a brief second to look at the spot where it hit, Takashi was confused to see a hole from the attack. "What the hell? How did it do that while I went straight through it?"

He didn't have the time to dwell longer on that as the Mephisto flew right at him. Just as it was a few feet away from him, it did a sudden curve, now placing it at Takashi's left. In the process of the curve, its cloak began to spin, taking on the sharpness of a blade. Takashi, having not seen it coming, was unable to dodge quick enough to fully avoid the now dangerous cloak. It clipped his arm as he leapt away.

Cursing from the sharp pain he felt, Takashi placed a hand over the cut in his shirt even though the wound was already healing. That didn't mean blood wasn't shed or that the attack didn't hurt. Trying to ignore the pain, Takashi surveyed the area, trying to find a weapon, but then called off his search as he remembered something: the devil arm Dante had given him. Concentrating hard, Gilgamesh took form, just in time for another one of the Mephisto's finger attacks.

Takashi raised his now gauntlet covered fist just as the finger was going to hit. He felt a bit of satisfaction as the finger slammed into the gauntlet, making a slight spark from the finger panging off the side of it. Takashi grinned, glad that the finger couldn't go through the gauntlet like it did the wall.

He knocked the finger to the side and launched himself at the demon, hoping that his devil arm would make a difference. Just to be on the safe side, Takashi was intent on aiming for its head. The Mephisto, sensing a change here, floated up, Takashi's Gilgamesh covered fist, just barely missing its insectoid face. Takashi's eyes narrowed as he felt his fist brush something. "There's something there," he thought.

Takashi went for a kick and was met with a better result, which would be his foot actually hitting something under the cloak, thanks to the increase in speed the devil arm granted him. The Mephisto was actually knocked to the side from the strength of the kick. But it was a demon and like all demons, it was a persistent creature, a fact that was reflected in its next action: its razor sharp, spinning cloak.

The demon didn't have momentum on its side though so it was a good distance away when it started its attack so Takashi had plenty of time to prepare for it. However, as the Mephisto began to rush in, it started to zig-zag as an unexpected burst of bullets were fired right at it. Some of the rounds clipped its cloak, blowing small portions of it off.

Takashi looked to where the gunfire just came from and saw Kohta wielding a slightly steaming machine gun in his hands, a small smirk on his face. "Need a hand?" he asked. To his right was Saya holding the same gun that her mother had given her, the safety off and ready to fire. Alice was not in sight, probably still trying to get the others spread through out the huge mall, although Takashi had the feeling that the gunfire would certainly get their attention.

Grinning at Kohta and nodding at him in thanks, he turned to face the Mephisto once more. "Yeah, I guess I wouldn't mind some support." Takashi actually grinned. He couldn't really explain why, but he was feeling somewhat happy for the help.

In another part of the mall, Saeko, having been meditating in relative peace within a store, heard the gunfire and immediately stood up, her hand grabbing the hilt of her sword out of reflex. As soon as she did, the store doors opened to reveal Dante. "Damn, this place is like a maze," he grumbled.

"Dante-san?" Saeko didn't like the worried look on his face.

Dante focused his attention from his thoughts onto Saeko. "We got a few more uninvited guests," he said.

That was all she needed to hear. Nodding, she rushed past him, eager to help the others take down the demons that had somehow gotten in. Dante was quick to follow right behind her. However, they didn't get too far before Dante placed a hand out in front of Saeko to stop her. No sooner than he did this, a finger shot out from the ground at a relatively slow speed. Slow speed for Dante at least. For a human, on the other hand, it was little more than a blur, but Saeko had spent a good portion of her life practicing the way of the sword and it showed in her reflexes when she brought up her sword, still sheathed, to deflect the incoming attack.

Out of the ground floated a Mephisto, retracting its finger and making a sound that could possibly be seen as a sigh of disappointment. It gazed at the duo ominously.

Dante chuckled. "As much as you'd like to help your boyfriend, it looks like you and I are gonna have to deal with this party crasher first."

Saeko blushed slightly at the boyfriend comment about Takashi, but was quick in focusing on the matter at hand. "Agreed," she said with a bit of a smile, not being able to help but feel infected by Dante's confidence.

Dante whipped out Ebony and Ivory and took aim at the Mephisto. "Then let's rock!"

Ahhhhhh damn! Longest chapter yet! Feels pretty good, I gotta say.

Once again, I feel I must apologize for the long wait. I have gotten so much school work taking up time that it really isn't funny. Well, actually I don't get much homework or anything from college, but nevertheless it does take up a good bit of time to do and it's never fun. That, and I started reading a few new mangas like Bastard!. Gotta say, Bastard! sure is one interesting manga, so much so that it actually takes up a bit of my time on the computer.

Anyways, thanks so much to all of you who have reviewed/favorited my fic! It really means a lot to me. Hope you continue to enjoy my fic. Thanks for reading again!


	16. Chapter 16

Hey guys. Once again, I apologize for the wait. Man, even though my college classes lately have been relatively stress-free and easy, all I feel like doing when getting home is just do whatever homework I have and then relax with some games or reading up on new manga chapters (Bastard! is one awesome manga. I highly recommend it). That and for a little while, I had a bit of a case of writer's block. That really sucked.

Thankfully though, finals are over with so now I have the winter off to focus on this fic.

Here's the new one though. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 16

The Mephisto stayed in place before Dante and Saeko, seemingly sizing them up. Deciding to go with what it believed to be the weaker of the two, it aimed its deathly thin finger at Saeko. While it had guessed right in her being the weaker one, it had certainly underestimated her as when it fired its finger, Saeko was quick to bring up her sheathed sword again to deflect the finger to the side.

Almost immediately afterwards, she pulled her sword out from its sheath and tried to slice the finger clean off. However, the finger retracted just as the sword was about to make contact and so Saeko only chipped off a small part of it. If the Mephisto felt pain from the graze, it didn't show it, instead flying right at Saeko. It was cut off from its course by a short volley of bullets courtesy of Dante.

Dante paused for a brief second before letting loose another burst of gun fire, forcing the demon to break into zig-zag pattern. The Mephisto soon found itself hard pressed to dodge as it unintentionally ended up moving straight towards the devil hunter himself and Dante decided to welcome its close contact with Rebellion. Pulling the huge sword off his back, Dante took a lightning quick swing at the Mephisto. The demon managed to stop itself and pull back a bit, narrowly avoiding the sword, but a small part of its shadowy cloak paid the price as it seemed to just disappear as a result of the strike.

However, while it was able to escape relatively unscathed from Dante's attack, it didn't anticipate Saeko charging at it from behind. By the time it did, Saeko had already swung her sword sideways, the blade passing right through its cloak and actually making contact with the Mephisto's flesh.

However, while it was basically the demonic version of a big bug, the Mephisto was quite resilient, proven when Saeko's sword only dug into its flesh a few inches rather than the blade going cutting completely through it.

Saeko had anticipated the demon to be tough, but not for its skin to be this hard and so she had to exert a bit of effort in drawing the sword back out. As soon as she did, she ducked immediately, the Mephisto swinging its tail out from under its cloak at her.

It raised a finger to strike Saeko before she could move again, but Dante wasn't about to let that happen. Pulling out Coyote-A, he blasted the demon right in its back. The blast definitely took it by surprise and due to the close proximity of the shot, most of its cloak was now gone, leaving its vulnerable body open.

Dante backed up a bit, glancing only briefly at Saeko. "All yours," he said. He hadn't been kidding when he told Takashi earlier on the roof that he wouldn't play savior all the time and now he was planning to demonstrate that with Saeko here. He just hoped that she would understand.

Apparently, she did as she nodded once in understanding and proceeded to launch herself at the demon, hoping to hit it before it can continue to move. Unfortunately, the shotgun blast hadn't stunned the Mephisto for long and it began to raise its finger once more as Saeko neared. Out of pure instinct honed by her sword training from over the years, Saeko raised her sword and using the hilt of it, knocked the Mephisto's finger to the side as it was about to extend. Immediately afterwards, she slashed upwards at an angle with as much strength as she can muster in hopes of cutting into the demon deeper than before. She turned with the swing to put as much of her body weight into it as possible as well and it seemed as if this paid off as the sword sunk in the skin of her demonic foe more than before by a considerable amount.

The Mephisto certainly seemed to be feeling the pain more this time than the first as well for it began to writhe a bit as it struggled to pull away. But when it tried, Dante walked up and kicked it down hard, the demon cracking the floor as it slammed into it.

Despite the damage the kick did, the Mephisto was persistent in trying to get back up, but it didn't get too far along in its struggle when Saeko stabbed it dead center in the back with her sword. The stab had pierced its skin a bit, but the demon still tried to move, causing for Saeko to raise her sword and stab again in the same place. It went in deeper than before and apparently the wound was deep enough to make the Mephisto stop struggling as fiercely, but she knew that given the chance it would make its move so Saeko stabbed again and again, the Mephisto moving less time.

It wasn't until she had stabbed it nearly ten times that the Mephisto finally stopped moving entirely, letting out a piercing squeal of sorts before finally dying. A green liquid that Saeko supposed was its blood slowly began to leak out of the wounds it suffered.

A moment passed in silence as Dante walked towards the demon's corpse and nudged it, just to make sure it was dead. As he did so, Saeko let out a deep breath that she wasn't aware she was holding. Then she nearly fell to one knee, but Dante saw it coming and steadied her before she could fall.

"Thank you," she said to him, a little tired. Stabbing the Mephisto was rather exhausting, especially given how hard she had to do it in order to puncture its deceptively tough skin.

"Good job kid. You've killed your first demon. You really crushed him like a bug," Dante said, snickering a bit at the lame pun he just did. Saeko, although tired, couldn't help but chuckle a bit too.

A moment later though, the two grew serious. "Now let's see how the kid is doing," Dante commented. He looked off in the direction that Takashi was in, determining this fact from the noise he was hearing. "You alright?' he asked Saeko.

She stood to her feet. "I'll be fine. Let's go." And with that, they both went off to join Takashi and the others.

As they did so, Takashi was still dealing with the Mephisto and having a slightly hard time. After the first hit he had landed on it with Gilgamesh, the Mephisto had apparently wised up and was keeping its distance. Kohta and Saya were providing gun support from afar, but the Mephisto was proving to be cautious, keeping a good distance away from the duo as well. While Kohta was helping a lot thanks to his gun skill, Saya wasn't fairing too well even with instruction from Kohta on how to accurately aim the gun.

"Damn," Takashi muttered. He was trying to land hits on the demon, but he was at a disadvantage here being a hand-to-hand fighter while the Mephisto was built for range. A bad match up that Takashi immediately recognized.

His mind was furiously trying to process how to approach his opponent when out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kohta gesturing with his thumb, pointing to Takashi's right. It took a few seconds to figure out what he meant, but when Takashi did, he nodded quickly, in case the Mephisto could somehow understand that a plan of sorts has been made.

He immediately rushed at the Mephisto, or at least that's what it seemed like at first, when Takashi cut to the left. The second he did that, Kohta and Saya opened fire to Takashi's right, more specifically, right next to the Mephisto. The demon, sensing the incoming bullets, moved to its right… right into the path of Takashi.

It seemed to realize what was going to happen next as it tried to maneuver out of the way, but Takashi was faster than it, something that worked against it right now as Takashi lashed out with a fierce punch straight to the Mephisto's head. The attack connected even as the Mephisto was able to duck under it a bit, Takashi's fist slamming into the upper part of its bug-like cranium.

The hit knocked the Mephisto for a loop, the demon practically sailing across the room, but it pulled off a mid-air recovery and turned its attention to the ones that it believed to be responsible for the successful ploy: Kohta and Saya.

"Uh oh," Kohta muttered, a little bead of sweat on his head as the Mephisto seemed to actually glare at him despite its never-closing bug eyes. It stayed in place for a brief second longer before launching itself at the two gunners on the floor above.

"Oh shit!" Takashi yelled, not expecting it to move so fast when focused. He leapt as high as he could, hoping to intercept the Mephisto before it could reach Kohta and Saya, but the two, while more than surprised at its blinding speed, still had enough of their wits about them to open fire at the oncoming demon.

The intense hail of bullets that they unleashed struck the Mephisto hard, most piercing through its cloak while others struck the demon itself. This assault successfully stopped the Mephisto long enough for Takashi to appear above it, fist cocked. The gauntlet worn crackled briefly with demonic energy before Takashi brought his fist down on his target. The fist hit home and the Mephisto was knocked into the floor hard, ruining a good portion of it beyond any repair.

The impact was strong enough to destroy whatever remained of its cloak, leaving the demon completely vulnerable. However, that didn't mean it was incapable of moving. The Mephisto began to scurry away, covering a rather impressive distance before Takashi landed. "Oh no you don't," he said, lunging for it, but just as with the Blitz earlier in the day, this Mephisto proved to be more spry and intelligent compared to others for as soon as Takashi was about to get it, the Mephisto suddenly jumped, just barely making it over Takashi's head. But that was it all needed as the half-demon shot right under it, yelping in surprise as he skidded across the floor.

As he quickly got back up, Takashi could've sworn the demon was laughing at him. If it was, it didn't do so for long as Kohta and Saya had made their way down and were unloaded on it. That is, until Saya ran out of bullets. "Damn it!" she muttered, reaching into her pocket for some more bullets that Kohta had the foresight of giving to her before coming to Takashi's aid. But while she had been improving slowly with her shooting as the fight went on, she didn't have any experience reloading at the any sort of speed approaching Kohta's reload speed and so in her haste, she dropped most of the bullets.

Cursing, she tried to make a move for the bullets now rolling across the floor, but then Kohta ran out of ammo too. The Mephisto, having been scurrying around to avoid the bullets, stopped, pleased that it had a chance to attack now. A darkness began to surround it, its cloak beginning to reform, but before it could get too far, Takashi showed up next to it in the blink of an eye and kicked it hard in the side. This effectively stopped the return of the Mephisto's cloak and knocked said demon down.

Dazed but certainly not down, the bug-like demon pulled itself together as fast as possible, once more resuming its scurrying away tactic. However, it did not anticipate something being thrown from the floor above. A gun with a bayonet attached to it flew down and due to the height of the drop, it built up enough speed to actually pierce clean through the back of the Mephisto. Takashi looked up to the second floor. "Rei!" he practically exclaimed, seeing said girl on the second floor letting out a sigh, evidently happy at being able to hit the intended target.

She took a quick breath and nodded to Takashi, a smile on her face. Takashi returned a smile of his own and then focused his attention on the hurt Mephisto. It cried out in pain from being stabbed all the way through and it tried to move, but found itself unable to move much; the bayonet was rather large and the weight of the gun it was attached to was taking its toll on the demon's small, frail body.

"Not so tough now, huh?" Takashi muttered as he approached the helpless demon. The Mephisto made a sound that could have possibly passed for a squeal. Takashi flinched a bit as the loud noise hurt his ears, but did not slow his pace until he got close. The Mephisto looked up at him when he was less than a foot away, but it didn't do so for too long for at that moment, Takashi raised his right leg, the grieve crackling intensely during this movement. He held his leg in place for the briefest of seconds before bringing down in a wicked axe-kick so strong that when the grieve made contact with the demon, its skull practically exploded from the force of it. In fact, Takashi almost yelped a bit and moved back as the Mephisto's green blood spurted out from the now ruined body.

"That… was nasty," he muttered under his breath. He then turned to look at Kohta and Saya. "Thanks for the help." He gave them a smile.

Kohta grinned, trying to puff his chest out to look cool. "You're welcome, but next time, make sure the demon doesn't get too close to us," Saya complained from where she stood next to Kohta, but she had a small smile on her face that said she wasn't actually mad.

Takashi chuckled sheepishly before looking back up at Rei. "Thanks."

She laughed a bit. "No problem."

They shared a smile, but it wasn't long before the little moment was ruined by the sound of clapping. "Not bad." Dante was walking towards to Takashi, Saeko following behind him.

"Where were you at?" Takashi asked.

"We got tied up with one of its buddies," Dante simply explained.

"And after killing it, we came to help Komuro-kun, but Dante-san insisted on staying back to see how you did," Saeko said, her statement knocking the grin off Dante's face.

"You just had to tell him, huh?" Dante muttered.

"You were watching the whole time?" Rei asked incredulously as she came down the nearby stairs. "How come you didn't help?" She leveled her best glare at Dante, but he didn't seem affected by it.

"It's alright Rei. I know he hung back," Takashi said, stepping in between the two. He turned to Dante. "You wanted to see if the others and I can deal with demons."

The devil hunter chuckled. "I told you so on the roof. Glad to see that you were listening."

Takashi opened his mouth to speak, but didn't when he and the others heard gunfire. "What the fuck?"

Immediately, they all sprung into action, all of them heading for the stairs as they heard screams now. Dante made it up the stairs first, followed by Takashi, Kohta, Saya, and lastly Rei, who had pulled the bayonet and gun out of the Mephisto's smashed corpse as quickly as she could when the shots were heard.

They all ran towards the source of the gunfire, only to visibly flinch in worry when it stopped suddenly, only for the sound of an explosion to rattle their ears a second later. The only one who seemed perfectly calm at this was Dante. "Well, looks like we didn't have to worry."

"What? Why do you say that?" Kohta asked him, for Dante had suddenly stopped running, the action making them come to a halt as well.

Dante was about to respond as he rounded a corner to where the shots and explosion came from, but didn't for when he did make the turn, someone all but flew right at him. "Whoa!" Dante said, completely taken off guard by this. It was so sudden that he actually stumbled back a bit. In his arms was none other than Shizuka.

"Ahh, Dante-san, you alright?" she asked, her expression, which Takashi and the others got a look at, went from rather scared to concerned.

He laughed it off as he regained his balance. "Ah, don't sweat it. What happened?"

"This happened," Lady said, approaching them from where Shizuka had apparently come from, a smoking machine gun in one hand and what appeared to be the remains of another Mephisto in the other. The Kalina Ann was slightly hanging off her right shoulder, indicating that it was used just recently. Behind her stood Alice and Zeke. She unceremoniously dropped the body onto the floor. She looked at Dante and Shizuka and quirked an eyebrow. "Am I interrupting something here?"

At first, no one got what she meant until they looked at the two and noticed how close they were to each other, Dante with his hands almost around Shizuka and vice versa due to how hard she had crashed into the man. Shizuka, realizing this, immediately let go, mumbling out apologies, but Dante once more waved them off. Lady watched this scene with a hint of amusement while the others chuckled, Alice laughing at them outright almost. Even Zeke seemed to be chuckling by the sound of his bark. Some of the mall survivors, presumably the ones that screamed, slowly appeared behind Lady at that moment.

"Is it dead?" one asked nervously.

"It is. Clearly." Lady turned to face them, all traces of amusement gone.

"Damn it, ever since you people showed up, this kind of shit never happened!" another yelled, having quickly regained his wits now that they were out of danger again.

"And? What's next? You want to say that these zombies are around because of us too? Demons would have shown up eventually and most likely would have tried to kill you all. Just be thankful that we're here," Lady stated, more than infuriated by these people. She knew that most people didn't know demons existed and when they found out would try to deny it, but not like this.

She turned to Dante. "Next time this happens, you stay with them." She pointed to the mall survivors.

"You plan to pay me to do that?" Dante joked, not able to resist poking a little fun at her for money. It's been quite some time since he's had to pay her and now was a good time to get away with wrecking things without paying. Granted, it was like a damn apocalypse right now, but it never hurt to have humor.

Lady rolled her eyes. "You wish. If anything, you should be compensating me for having to stick with them all the time."

"And you! You said help would be coming, but you lied to us!" The group turned to the mall survivors to see that they were now focusing on Asami, who had apparently been at the back of the group.

"What's going on?" Rei asked.

"She lied to us about help coming. Her police buddy is dead," Dante answered stoically.

She and the others certainly got thrown for a loop by that. "So help isn't coming then," Kohta muttered.

Lady didn't comment, instead focusing on the crowd of people verbally assaulting Asami, who had her head down. Lady didn't doubt for a second that right now Asami was feeling utterly useless. The mall people were definitely not helping her feel better.

"Enough!" she yelled, "she may have lied to you all, but you should fucking thankful that she did! Because she lied, you were all able to keep calm and work things out despite some disagreements, but if you had known the truth from the start, there's no doubt that you all would be insane by now out of fear."

Her words shut them up fast, especially due to how harshly she said them. Some of them seemed to sober up a bit at what she said, others seemed angry, but regardless of how they felt, they were all silent and mellow now and that was good enough for Lady at the moment. She nodded to Asami, who flashed a grateful smile in return.

Turning back to the group, Lady spoke again. "Let's go."

Saya raised an eyebrow. "Where?"

"Out of this mall," Lady replied.

That got a reaction out of them. "Leave the mall?" Takashi said, "why?"

Lady looked him dead in the eyes. "Earlier today, a Blitz attacked us and just now, judging from all the noise, it looks like it wasn't just me that got attack by a Mephisto." That made them all share a look. "We've been attacked twice today and within a very short time frame too. That right there should tell you all that things are going to escalate."

That got them all thinking. "That's true. And while the survivors are mellow now thanks to you, chances are they will just start up again the next time demons come," Saya mused out loud.

Lady nodded at her point. "Exactly. And if we stay here and more demons come, we run the risk of accidently destroying the blockade we have up outside should the fight spill out of the mall. That'll just make it easy for the zombies to march their way in."

"One thing after another," Kohta muttered.

"So leaving the mall may not be such a bad idea after all," Saeko surmised. She looked at Lady. "But that just brings up another question: where would we go?"

Lady pondered that for moment. "I don't know yet. It's not as if Dante and I are familiar enough with this area to know where to go."

"So I guess that means it's up to you kids to figure that part out," Dante said.

"Great. And I was just beginning to like this place," Takashi said after a sigh. His sarcasm got another short chuckle from everyone.

Meanwhile, outside of the mall, the zombies that circled around the barricade were beginning to focus their attention on the mall. For a while now they have been hearing much noise come from the place, mainly due to the fighting that went on inside earlier. At first, they did not do anything, remaining the same as before the noise occurred: circling aimlessly around the area. But during Dante's battle with the Blitz earlier, the attack from Pandora had not only blown off the demon's head, but the beam also traveled and blew off a good portion of the barricade as well. However, due to the distance and angle, Dante didn't notice it as he left to dump the Blitz, leaving it open to Them. But they didn't enter then because the only noise they had heard after that had come from Dante's disappearing footsteps and themselves.

But that was then. Now, with the recent noise, the undead were aware of those inside the mall and so they began to circle the barricade with the intent to get in. It wasn't very long before they found the way in.

And on the street that Dante had dumped the Blitz's corpse at, another wave of Them was approaching, walking without any real purpose down the street. Had Takashi and the others been there, they wouldn't have recognized a majority of the zombies, but they definitely would have recognized several: some of Them were students that had been on the bus with Shidou. One of them was the boy, Tsunoda that said he didn't like Takashi all that time ago on the bus. The zombie next to him was the girl, Yuuki Miku, who had used her well endowed figure to get the group's way into Souichirou's home. And in front of them stood none other than Shidou himself, now a zombie.

The group moaned collectively, walking in a straight line down the street. No noise was present so there was nothing to distract them. However, some walked a little faster then others and so some of Them were knocked to the side. This was the case with the zombified Shidou when the undead Miku accidently bumped into him from the side, causing him to stumble into the side of a dumpster. The same one that Dante had dumped the Blitz in.

When the undead Shidou bumped into it, the lid flew open briefly and due to the lack of balance the zombie teacher had as well as the momentum from the light bump, he got halfway into the dumpster before the lid closed on him, pinning him on the waist. However, Shidou was still within reach of the Blitz's corpse.

When the lid slammed shut on the zombie, it caused the one of the Blitz's legs to fall from its previous position and hit the dumpster. That alerted Shidou to something being there. Reaching out with his arms, Shidou grabbed hold of part of the dead demon and pull himself closer to it until he was completely inside the dumpster. Then Shidou began to feed.

All right! Wow, 4,329 words (excluding this, of course)! And I thought the last chapter was long, but this took the cake.

Thank you to everyone who has been favoriting this fic! Every time I would open up my email and see that people are still favoriting this fic makes me so extremely happy! It makes me glad to know that people are really enjoying this.

Anyways, things are going to be heating up even more for the group very soon! Man, I'm just throwing crap at them all the time now that I think of it, but then again, this is a zombie/demon apocalypse.

Okay given how long this chapter took me to do, chances are the next one will take up even more time, so there is most definitely no way that it will be done before Christmas. So in that case, Merry Christmas to you all! And should the next chapter prove to take longer than I think it will and I end up not posting it by the end of December, then let me also wish you a Happy New Year.

Thanks again for reading and please be sure to leave a review.


	17. Chapter 17

Hey there guys, hope you all had a nice Christmas and Happy New Year! I know I did. Man, this has been a very relaxing time for me and if any of you are in college and thus are waiting for the next semester to start, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. Feels nice just to chill and not worry about much for now.

And now let's get on to the chapter!

Chapter 17

The group had gathered in a more isolated section of the mall's food court, wanting to keep a good distance away from the other survivors. For a few past moments, they had been discussing their next course of action. "Okay, I can understand that things are going bad with those other guys, but is leaving the mall really gonna be a good thing?" Rei asked.

Saya looked at her. "It's much better than staying here. We've been attacked by demons twice now and they made it in here without even trying. You saw how much trouble they gave us and there was only a few of them total. Waiting around for a possibly larger wave would be suicide."

Lady nodded at her words. "She has a point that you can't possibly deny," she said to Rei, who looked like she wanted to say something, but then decided not too. Lady smirked a bit at now being able to steer this conversation towards something else. "Alright then, now that we can all see that leaving is the best option, first thing first is where exactly should we go? Are there any other places in the area that we can hole up at for a while?"

Everyone in the group except for Dante as he didn't know the city, began to think a bit on that question. And it was a good question too. There weren't many places left that could be qualified as a good place to stay. The demons have already shown that even the largest and most fortified of places such as the mall can be easily broken into. A fact that brought up more questions to them: how did the demons find them so quickly? Were they tracking them for some reason? If so, how? And if not, then why is it that they, the group, end up in places that seem to naturally attract demons?

But for now, they chose to put those questions to the side until they actually think of a place to go to first. Takashi was the first of them to speak. "Well, there's really no place left to stay at for a while. All we can do at this point is just move around from place to place."

Saeko nodded at what he said. "Komuro-kun is right. This mall may be the most fortified place around, but it did us no good. Our only option is to stay in places for short periods of time before moving on. Unless we can find a way out of the city or help arrives, that is."

Everyone else pondered this for a moment. "So then I guess we should stick close to the residential areas right?" Kohta asked. "If we go deeper into the city, then we're just going to encounter more of Them, right?"

Lady crossed her arms under her breasts, her eyes closed in thought. "That is true. Getting closer to the downtown area would be a big risk with all of these zombies around. And if they are like those demonic ones Dante encountered then things are really going to be bad for us."

Dante sighed. "So, it looks like we're stuck between a rock and a hard place, huh? Go any further into the city and we're gonna be hacking through those 28 Days Later rip offs all day, but if we just keep to the residential places, we're not really going anywhere."

Lady was about to make another comment when a crash of sorts rang out. She let out a groan, her patience having been pushed far past its limit now. "God damn it, what now?"

She stomped off, fully intent on giving the mall survivors a piece of her mind if it turned out to be them that was causing the ruckus. However, her anger dissipated as she passed by the bed store and saw the survivors there, talking amongst themselves. Asami was there in the center, apparently trying to get herself back in control and restore the confidence she had in herself earlier.

"Ah Lady-san!" the young policewoman said.

Lady nodded at her. She looked over the whole group, making sure they were all there. Everyone was accounted for. "Did you just hear-?"

"A crash?" Asami replied, to which Lady nodded.

"Yeah. We really need to check it out. After everything we've all been through so far, we can't just sit around and wait for something to come to us now," Lady said.

Asami blinked a few times before nodding almost enthusiastically. Lady couldn't really blame her for the eagerness; having been unable to lend a hand earlier must have really made her feel helpless so this chance to do something must be like a godsend to her.

Dante, Takashi, and the rest of the group were now right behind Lady too, having followed her as soon as she had started walking off, but didn't say anything since they thought it best to remain quiet for now. At least until now. "Hey, anyone else plan on helping?" Dante asked the mall survivors.

They all looked taken aback a bit by his sudden question to them. They looked around amongst themselves for a moment before looking back at him. "I'll go with you guy to check it out. I feel like crap for not doing anything," a guy with short, light hair and a slight goatee said.

Dante and Lady turned to look at him, glancing over his build. The guy wasn't that tall, maybe a few inches shorter than Takashi and with a bit more of a stockier build that was hidden a bit by a jacket, but he looked like he could pull his weight. His cargo pants also gave them the slight hope that he may possibly be former military given their color, but they weren't betting on it given that people nowadays wear them quite a bit. And even if he was former military, the guy's glasses made the two devil hunters think he was a desk person. "What's your name?' Lady asked.

"Tamaru Hiro," he answered as he stood up, scratching his head.

"Alright then, thanks for volunteering. Now let's get moving," Lady practically commanded.

The group, Asami and Hiro now included, all nodded and they began to make their way out, but then one of the other mall survivors called out to them. "Hey, wait! What about us?" he asked.

Asami turned around to face him. "Ah, sorry, but for now, it'd be best for you all to remain here in this store. Wandering around might be a bad idea right now."

Dante nodded at that logic. "And in case of emergency, you guys can just bring down the gate so that no one can get in."

"And no one will be able to leave either," another survivor muttered.

"Well, hey, at least you'll live right?" Dante rolled his eyes. These people sure were damn hard to please. "Besides, if things are fine, we can just come back and open up the gate for you. Simple as that," he said. And with that, the group all walked away.

"Glad to finally be doing something. Being with those guys is fucking infuriating," Hiro said, something to which Lady grunted to in agreement.

"If you don't mind me asking, are you by chance former military?" Lady asked.

Hiro chuckled. "Nah, I'm just your every day twenty one year old slacker. I'm not old enough to be former military."

"Really now? You sure look the part," Dante said with a smirk, poking fun at how Hiro looked older than he said.

Hiro huffed. "Hey, I'll have you know that many fucking people have told me I look my damn age."

Dante stifled a laugh. "Sure. Whatever helps you stay cool."

"Could the two of you knock it off?" Saya practically growled. She couldn't believe how lax they were being. She could understand that Dante was more than a match for Them and the demons, but she still wondered if it would kill him to be more serious about the whole thing now that things were looking bad. Again.

Dante put up his arms as if to calm her down. "Touchy," he muttered.

"I heard that," Saya shot back.

Takashi sighed, but he had a smile on his face that no one could see since he was at the front of the group. Although Dante could be less of a jokester during these kind of times, it did bring a sense of normalcy to the group that he is sure wouldn't be if Dante and Lady weren't around.

It wasn't much longer until they got near the main entrance of the mall. The glare from the sun outside made it hard for anyone to see as it shined through the glass. Even Takashi and Dante were having a bit of a problem seeing. But while they couldn't see, they could hear and they could something, or rather multiple somethings now, coming from beyond the doors of the mall. When they adjusted to the light, they looked and the group fell deathly silent at what they saw.

Right outside the mall was a huge group of Them walking around, a good bunch of Them right up against the glass doors, banging into it, which would catch the attention of more of their undead comrades and lure them towards the entrance.

"What the fuck? Just what the fuck?" Hiro muttered.

"How did they get past the barricade? There's no way they could have muscled their way through it!" Lady said aloud.

Alice merely took a step behind Shizuka and the others, Zeke held in her arms. "What are we going to do about Them?" she asked.

"Well, we can't just let Them pound away," Takashi replied to no one in particular, his eyes not leaving the decaying faces of the zombies.

They fell silent once more, the only noise being that generated from the constant slamming of the undead into the glass. "Pretty tough glass," Kohta commented.

"Glass doors are built sturdy nowadays so that people looking to burglarize places like this won't be able to get in by smashing through the door," Saya said, "looks like it's working to our advantage now."

"Well kid, that still doesn't mean we should just leave them be," Dante said as he turned around.

"Where are you going, Dante-san?" Asami asked.

He pointed up. "Through the hole Sparky made so that I can get out there. Better than going through the door there and risk letting them get in," Dante replied before continuing on.

"I'll come too," Takashi said as he followed after Dante.

"Me too," Kohta added. He hefted his machine gun. "I can take out some of Them from above."

Rei narrowed her eyes a bit as she tried to see something off in the distance behind the undead. "No, wait. Wait, something's up," she nearly muttered.

Everyone stopped and looked at her. Takashi approached her and looked in the same direction she was looking in. "See something wrong?"

Rei was silent for a few seconds before answering. "Could have sworn I did."

"Well, I'm not gonna wait around to see if there is something there, not if I can just get it on the end of my sword," Dante said before resuming his walk. That is, until he and the others heard noise from outside that didn't come from the zombies in sight.

"Did… anyone just hear… blades?" Hiro asked, unsure of how exactly to describe what he had just heard. It had sounded like steel against the ground. And it was happening frequently.

"Ah shit," Dante muttered.

As soon as he said that, demonified zombies made their way onto the scene, coming from an unknown way into the area. Just like before, they were part Scarecrow, their limbs disfigured into blades that looked like it could slice through flesh like tissue paper. Some that had the blades in placement of a leg would leap over the barricade rather than come from wherever it was that the other zombies, both normal and demonifed, had entered.

"Those are the ones you were telling us about?" Rei exclaimed to Dante.

He didn't reply. "We better get moving."

Takashi and Kohta, a little startled by the appearance of these new zombies, just nodded stupidly a bit before Takashi got serious, a sudden change that Lady watched from the corner of her eyes and approved of. Takashi turned to Hiro. "Go back to the others and let them know what's going on. Get them moving to somewhere else. We're going to make a run for it."

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "But what about the whole thing with the store gate?"

Takashi looked him dead in the eyes, something that made Hiro unconsciously take a step back because of how serious he looked. "I kinda doubt it would last long against the blades of those things."

Hiro looked through the glass and at the approaching demonic zombies' bladed limbs, noting their size and sharpness. "Right," he said before taking off.

"I better go with him. Someone is going to have to keep an eye on them after all," Saya nearly growled out, not liking it, but knowing she has to be there since she is the most logical person.

"Yeah. Okay," Takashi replied.

Saya grabbed hold of Alice and called for Shizuka to come with her too since they weren't ones for fighting.

Takashi saw that the only people remaining were himself, Rei, Saeko, Kohta, Dante, and Lady. "Let's move." They all broke into a run to get to the center of the mall where the Blitz had entered only to stop suddenly as they observed the hole in the ceiling. "How are we going to get up there?" Takashi thought.

No sooner had those words crossed his mind had Dante leapt high into the air and out the hole. Takashi and the others, excluding Lady, gaped a bit at him. "Come on kid, don't let me outdo you," Dante nearly snickered before taking off.

That snapped them out of their stupor. Lady hefted Kalina Ann off her back and took aim at the side of the hole. A grappling hook shot out and latched itself onto the edge of hole. "One of you, come with me," she said, nodding in their general direction.

Much to Takashi's surprise - and most likely to the surprise of Rei and Saeko as well – Kohta stepped forward. When he was close enough, Lady wrapped an arm around him and he did likewise. Another second passed by before Lady hit the switch on her Kalina Ann to bring them up.

"Now it's just us," Takashi noted aloud. He looked at both Rei and Saeko before blushing lightly. "Er, you might want to grab hold of me," he said a little sheepishly.

The two girls did so, their faces tinted a little red. When Takashi felt them grab on tight, he wrapped his arms around them and took a deep breath, hoping that he could make the jump. If not, that would be rather embarrassing .

He crouched down a bit before jumping as high as he possibly can. Rei let out a sharp 'whoa!' at the speed of the jump. Saeko was as surprised as Rei, but she hid it better, her eyes only widening. Takashi himself seemed surprised, but he wasn't about to let anyone know that.

He landed on the ledge of the hole with as much grace as he could muster, having never done this before. Dante, having watched the hole thing from the edge repressed his urge to chuckle. Laughing at Takashi's expense could wait for later.

He walked over to the ledge of the building and took a look down. The zombies were now all crowded around the doors to the mall. The demonic ones were still some distance away, moving as slowly as their normal brethren. The only ones that seemed to be exceptions to this were the ones with blades replacing one of their legs, being able to skip rather than shamble.

"Holy crap," Kohta muttered, getting a good look at the number of Them.

"They sure came here fast," Lady commented, walking next to Dante.

Dante snorted. "And they're about to leaving to. To Hell anyway." And with that, he jumped right off the roof and into the swarm of Them below.

Right before landing, he pulled out Rebellion and lobbed off a few heads with a flick of his hand. Kicking another one away, he reached into his coat with his left hand and pulled out Ivory and put a bullet in another zombie's head.

"He sure doesn't waste time," Rei commented.

"And neither can we now. Komuro-kun, we should give him a hand," Saeko said.

Takashi nodded, grabbing hold of the girls and dropped off the ledge, landing away from the zombies to avoid being swarmed. "You alright?" he asked the girls, to which they nodded.

Letting go of them, he summoned Gilgamesh so that he wouldn't have to worry about the zombies trying to bit his hands or shins. At the same time, Saeko unsheathed her sword while Rei hefted her bayonet equipped gun.

Meanwhile, Kohta remained on the roof, moving his machine gun into place while Lady also leapt from the roof to help out. She rolled as she landed in order to avoid the brunt of the impact as she was human after all. Getting up quickly, she whipped out two pistols and began to unload on the nearest zombies, her bullets hitting dead center in the forehead. It was only a few seconds more before the ground was littered with the blood and brains of the undead. But there were still many more to go.

Takashi took note of the still approaching demonic ones and figured that it'd be best to take them out now before they get closer and prove themselves a hassle. Charging at the closest one, he cocked back his fist and unleashed a fierce straight right at the demonic zombie's face. It slammed into it with such force that it almost sounded like a grenade going off. But all the punch did was crack its face in a bit.

"Man, they really are more durable," Takashi muttered, having expected it since Dante told him and the group so. He just didn't expect the difference to be this much. Good thing for him, he didn't put that much strength into the punch, so it was good to know that they were still relatively weak.

The now hurt zombie raised its blade arm and tried to bring it down on the teenaged half-devil, but Takashi blocked it with his gauntlet before kicking it away. He threw another punch at its face, but apparently, the eating of a Scarecrow not only made it stronger, but also a bit smarter as it seemed to sense the impending attack and begin to move to the left to avoid it. however, it wasn't fast enough as Takashi's fist crashed into its face, a sickening crack ringing out.

The undead staggered back and it was unable to recover as Takashi unloaded a quick three hit combo on it, making sure every attack was aimed at the head. With every hit, its head looked worse and worse as Takashi was hitting harder now, but the last punch finally did the demonic undead in as Takashi was able to actually punch a hole in its head, something that would definitely kill a person, demonically empowered or not. As the body slumped to the ground, Takashi surveyed the other approaching ones, noting that the next one coming had a blade for a leg. And it seemed to be moving very fast now. "Now this will be problem," he thought.

Meanwhile, Rei and Saeko, as much as they seemed to not get along now, were fighting alongside one another. Rei stabbed a zombie with her spear-like gun before kicking it hard. The zombie dropped to the ground dead, a small hole where its brain was at. As soon as it hit the pavement, Saeko moved forward and sliced off the head of the one behind it.

"Tell me again why we're out here," Rei said as she moved back from a somewhat lunging zombie.

"The glass doors to the mall may be reinforced, but given time they will shatter. We can't allow Them to continue pounding away on the doors. And if those demonic ones are as strong as Dante-san says, we can't allow them to get any closer; the doors wouldn't hold under their strength," Saeko calmly replied despite the situation.

She walked forward slowly, taking up a defensive stance as she was slowly being surrounded by a few of Them. Looking over very briefly to where Dante was, she saw him bring down Rebellion in a vicious yet masterful diagonal swing down on a zombie before bringing it back up in to slice the head off another one and then spinning around to cut down a few more. The last swing didn't slice off all of their heads as they were all of differing height, but the ones that did survive the attack were put to rest by quick shots from Dante's handguns.

Saeko couldn't help but admire his swordsmanship in that moment and was even a bit inspired by it. Forgoing her defensive posture, she moved forward and brought down her sword in a diagonal swing just like Dante. The sword easily cut through the deteriorating flesh of the nearest undead, its head now rendered two. Moving away from it, Saeko faced the one to her left and once again imitated Dante's attack by going for its head with an upwards swing. The zombie's fate was the same as the one before. And lastly, she spun around, coming face to face with two more zombies. She swung her sword once more and sliced cleanly through the neck of one while the other one, a taller one, merely got cut across its right shoulder.

Saeko prepared to strike it down, but then a shot rang out and the tall zombie dropped. Turning around, Saeko looked up to see Kohta smirking a bit, apparently enjoying this chance to shoot down Them. Kohta gave a nod and Saeko returned the gesture and both continued on.

Dante, having watched this amidst fighting, whistled. "Looks like I won't have to worry about teaching her after all." He backhanded a zombie, the force of the blow destroying its head easily. "Now how about we crank this up a notch?" he said to himself.

Lunging forward, Dante swung Rebellion with one hand, cutting down a few of Them and immediately after the swing, he lashed out with a kick to another's head. Blood spilled forth from the head as his foot met with it, but Dante ignored it and instead pulled out Ebony and picked off several approaching zombies.

Not too far away from him was Lady, who was spraying bullets into the heads of the surrounding zombies with deadly accuracy. She spied Dante out of the corner of her eyes and had to keep herself from sighing. "He just doesn't know the meaning of restraint," she thought, but not in an unpleasant way. In fact, she thought that Dante's tenacity in some cases proved to be very useful when in situations like this.

"I better try harder too," she commented to herself.

A zombie made its way towards her in what Lady guessed was its version of a lunge. She easily sidestepped it and tripped the undead and as soon as it hit the ground, she blasted its brains out. But she didn't stop there. Turning around to a somewhat large crowd of Them, she hefted Kalina Ann off her back, smacking aside a zombie that was to her right with it in the process. Taking aim at the group, she fired off a missile at Them. The zombies let out one last groan before it struck, the resulting explosion being so large and powerful that Lady nearly felt it in her bones. But she shook off the feeling quickly as pieces of the zombies flew near her, forcing her to take several steps back.

However, she bumped into another zombie coming from behind, but before it could move to grab her, Lady grabbed hold of its arm and shoulder tossed it, taking advantage of its poor balance. Letting go of its arm afterwards, Lady raised the Kalina Ann and slammed the butt of it into the undead's face with as much force as she can muster. It took serious damage from the hit, but it was still moving, prompting Lady to hit it again, this time around being the killing blow.

Taking a step away from the body, Lady spared a brief second to look around. The numbers of Them have dwindled considerably thanks to her efforts as well as everyone else's, but that didn't change the fact that the entrance they were using to get in was still there. And apparently, the entrance was being forced into becoming larger as for every one of Them Lady and the others seemed to kill, three or four more seemed to approach them.

Looking back on the group's decision to come out and thin the numbers, Lady thought that it was a very good move for there was no doubt that the mall doors would have crumbled under the sheer numbers. But she noted that it may have been a bad move too for they were running a serious risk here. Lady could tell that while they were fine now, it wouldn't be long before she, Rei, and Saeko would grow fatigued. Kohta would run out of bullets eventually, although from the sounds of the shots ringing out, he was doing a good job so far on conserving ammo. And eventually even Takashi and Dante would grow tired from the numbers should things proceed as they are.

"Shit, this really is starting to get bad," Lady thought. She may have the Kalina Ann to wipe out large crowds of Them, but Dante had much more options available to him and easily had more stamina than anyone else in the group. If he gets tired then their chances of getting out of here alive and not bitten drop considerably. Granted, that would take some time to happen, but it was still a risk, one that was becoming more of an inevitability at the rate zombies kept appearing.

"Please just don't let the noise attract any demons," she muttered.

Lady then got her mind back onto the matter at hands and picked up from where she left off, the zombies having shifted their attention to Dante, Rei, and Saeko as Lady had ceased making noise a moment ago. But she certainly wasn't silent anymore. Running over to where Dante was, Lady opted for her machine guns rather than her handguns in this situation. Not wasting another second, she sprayed the nearest bunch of zombies with bullets until they resembled a gory version of swish cheese.

"Finally finished up in your corner huh?" Dante commented from where he was.

"Oh shut up and focus on them," Lady retorted, getting a snicker from Dante.

But the cheerfulness he seemed to feel suddenly vanished as he blasted a zombie in the face and looked right behind it. "Lady?" he called out, still shooting at the surrounding undead without shifting his gaze.

"What?" she replied, focusing on the zombies from their rear.

"Looks like we just got some party crashers," Dante said.

Lady looked over her shoulder to see what he was talking about and was rewarded with a sight that didn't please her one bit. "I just had to call it, didn't I?" she thought.

Too far away to be of worry at the moment, but close enough to be seen was a Mega Scarecrow, shambling its way towards the mall. To its sides were a small group of Scarecrows, who were lumbering towards them at about the same speed as their larger brethren.

But then a roar rang out from another direction. Dante and Lady immediately looked in the direction it came from, having killed off the zombies closest to them for the moment. At first, they saw nothing, just the barricade off in the distance, but not even a second after noting that, three Assault came leaping over it.

A loud thud occurred, alerting everyone else to their arrival now. Even the zombies seemed to stop going after Rei and Saeko and slowly shift their attention to the Assaults. But the Assaults ignored Them and instead had their sights focused on the devil hunters. One growled out before they all began to charge at the duo.

"Well, this looks bad," Dante said.

"More than bad," Lady said.

And with that, the devil hunters quickly prepared to greet the new arrivals.

There we go! Man, looks like I was right; the chapters are really getting longer. Makes me wonder how long they'll be getting once I really do get close to the end.

Anyways, as you can see, the shit has really hit the fan, at least more than before if that were possible. And all I can say is that if you think it's bad now, it'll actually get even worse soon.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please be sure to review too.


	18. Chapter 18

Well, the new college semester just started this week so I will be putting out new chapters later than usual. Ah, sure hope I can get through this semester with relative ease; the break felt too short to me. Oh well.

Anyways, here is the next chapter!

Chapter 18

Dante and Lady knew instinctively that if they didn't take out the demons now, things were really going to get ugly. Dante readied Rebellion as an Assault charged its ways towards him, letting out an ear-numbing roar. Dante winced at the volume of it. "Ouch. Can't you tone it down there, you wannabe lizard?"

Naturally, his sarcastic question went unnoticed by the one it was addressed to as the Assault pulled back its shielded arm and took a massive swing at the devil hunter. Dante blocked the hit with the flat side of his sword and pushed the demon back, only for it to launch another punch as soon as it regained its balance. Dante smacked the fist aside this time and responded with one of his own punches. The attack landed hard against the demon's jaw, knocking back a bit.

However, its two brethren took this moment to jump in now. One came at Dante directly while the other leapt into the air. The one on the ground went in low, intent to take out Dante's legs with a quick swipe at them, but Dante moved to the side to avoid it. however, the one above choose that exact moment to come crashing down on the devil hunter, who brought up his sword to try and stab the incoming demon. But the airborne Assault had anticipated Dante's counter and had raised its shielded arm ahead of time to block it. Its feet struck Dante on the side of his head and it actually ended up knocking him down.

But Dante didn't stay down for long though for the as the Assault landed, he spun on his back to get back up, one foot hitting the demon in the process. The Assault was stunned from the hit and so was unable to avoid the leg sweep that Dante did with his other leg right after that. Upon getting back to his feet, Dante immediately went for the kill by trying to bring down Rebellion and lob the Assault's head off. The key word being tried as halfway through the swing, the one already close by and the one he knocked back earlier made their way into the fight by trying to tackle him. Dante was able to stop his swing and respond quickly enough to one, but the other managed to get through his hastily put up defense and crash into him.

But it didn't push him back far for Lady chose that particular moment to step in, unloading a volley of machine gun fire into the Assault's side. Since it was so focused on Dante just now, the demon hadn't expected Lady and so was helpless against the short but relentless gunfire. Blood poured out of the bullet holes as the Assault staggered back from Dante, a roar emitting from the wounded demon.

The noise the Assaults had made earlier when they appeared had already drawn the attention of a small group of Them, but the pain-filled roar just now served to have more slowly begin to make their way towards the devil hunting duo.

"Shit, we can't afford to drag out this fight otherwise, everything demonic or dead here will just come towards us," Lady thought as she heard the moaning of the now approaching undead.

She looked back at the Assault she just shot in time to see Dante kick it further away from him, interrupting its roar. Pulling out the Coyote-A, Dante quickly charged the shot and let loose before the Assault could regain its balance. The demon didn't have a chance to make another sound as the charged shot blew a good portion of its head right off. The Assault fell to the ground dead, its blood spilling out from the fatal wound.

At this, the other two Assaults, having recovered, let out a quick war cry and one charged at Lady while the other reared back its arm and shot out what appeared to look like huge seeds right at Dante only for him to shoot them down. But this was what the Assault wanted as its brethren made it past Dante, who was quite close to Lady, and to its target. However, while Lady may not be as fast as her comrade, she was considerably more agile than most humans, a fact that she demonstrated by somersaulting over the incoming demon. The charging Assault, having not expected this, went tumbling forward into the ground, leaving itself exposed as Lady took aim with her machine gun. The Assault didn't have a chance to get back up as Lady unloaded every last bullet into it, killing the demon.

At the same time, Dante, tiring of dragging this out, charged at the remaining one as fast as he could, his speed exceeding the Assault's reaction speed. With a slight grunt, he brought down Rebellion, cleaving his would be foe clean in two. Blood poured out of the two halves as they plopped to the ground.

"About time you actually started to get serious a little," Lady commented as Dante shook his sword to get the blood off, "normally you mess with them."

Dante shrugged. "Well, considering this mess I figured to hell with it right now." He looked and noticed the zombies that were very close by to them. "We already beat down the Assaults, and they just barely reached us? Christ, they're slow."

Lady rolled her eyes. "They're zombies. What did you expect?"

"Well, there are other demons around. Let's put down this fuckers fast and go take care of them," Dante replied.

Lady smirked. "Thought you'd never say that." And the two opened fire at the oncoming undead.

As this went on, Takashi had easily disposed of the demonified zombies. "Sure hope that they won't get any stronger overtime or something. The fact that they're already tougher than Them is a bit unnerving as it is," he thought.

He snapped himself out of his thoughts though as he quickly began to make his way over to where Rei and Saeko were, ready to help them out. However, that didn't happen for he then sensed an attack coming fast at him. He heard it too.

Looking behind him, he was very shocked to see a Mega Scarecrow rolling right at him. He swore loudly at the sight and proceeded to roll out of the way. He was able to move in time, but only barely, the huge demon just barely missing his legs.

Takashi got up as fast as he can as the Mega Scarecrow came to a skidding stop right after missing. It slowly stood to its full height and turned to face the teen, who looked up at it nervously, remembering his first encounter with one and how hard a time he had just trying to dodge. "Please don't let this be a repeat," he muttered.

No sooner than the words left his mouth did the Mega Scarecrow attack. It lashed out with one of its huge arms at Takashi, who quickly leapt over it to avoid. Its blade soared underneath him, but the Mega Scarecrow proved to be quite fast with its attacks as it suddenly brought its other arm to hit Takashi.

Takashi, still being airborne, knew he couldn't dodge in time so he settled for raising his arms in defense, praying that the Gilgamesh gauntlets would be enough to guard. The massive blade of the demon crashed into him with great force, knocking Takashi tens of yards. He crashed into the ground hard and skidded across before he came to a stop. Groaning in pain, Takashi got up quickly and spared a very brief glance to his gauntlets. They didn't have a scratch on them. He sighed in relief, but the feeling was very short lived for the Mega Scarecrow pressed on the attack again, two of its arms spinning at blinding speeds before suddenly the blades on them flew right off and at the young high schooler. Takashi ducked under the first and evaded the next one by rolling to his right.

Immediately afterwards, Takashi rushed the giant demon as fast as he could, fists clenched tightly. As he closed in, the Mega Scarecrow tried to swipe at him again, but Takashi slid under it and then jumped so that he was at eye level with its head. Takashi then lashed out with the fiercest left hook that he could do, his fist connecting hard with the demon's face. Thanks to the extra power that Gilgamesh granted him, the punch was actually strong enough to make the demon stagger back several feet.

Taking advantage of its dazed state, Takashi rushed it again, only this time instead of a punch, he struck it from underneath with a solid kick, the force of it knocking the Mega Scarecrow a few feet into the air. It made an unintelligible sound as it crashed unceremoniously into the ground, making the area shake a bit from the weight.

Takashi would've smirked a bit if not for the fact that when he put the demon on its rear, he noticed a group of Scarecrows heading straight for the entrance to the mall. Which was where Rei and Saeko were.

"Oh shit!" Takashi yelled, not caring if it drew the attention of every zombie in the area. He was about to run over there to stop the Scarecrows, but then a huge blade shot past him, making him take a small leap back in surprise. Looking back at the Mega Scarecrow, he noted that one of its arm had just stopped spinning while two more arms began to spin as it slowly got back up. Takashi warily brought his fists up. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

As all the fighting went on, Saya, Alice, and Shizuka were currently in the mall, getting the mall survivors up to speed on the situation. Needless to say, the group was not very pleased by the turn of events and Saya was getting tired of them. "Enough! Listen, we all have to get out of here now! If we don't then those zombies are going to eventually bust their way in and there's no escaping then!" she practically roared.

"But surely we can just hole up here! It's not as if they can bust through the store's gate!" one shot back.

Saya rubbed her forehead, sighing tiredly; things were tiring enough as they are and the mall survivors weren't helping matters now. "The gates won't hold Them at all. They'll just knock them down after a while and then there really will be no place left to run and you will all end up being food for Them. Do you want that?" she tried to say as calmly as possible, figuring it'd be best to do so than yell at them since that definitely wasn't getting through to them.

The group now looked uncertain. "Well…."

"Say, where did that police lady go?" Alice asked, looking around. Zeke, who has been unusually quiet for a while now barked in confirmation, looking around a bit too while Alice held him in her arms.

Everyone blinked a bit; they just realized that Asami wasn't there. "Come to think of it, that guy isn't here either," Shizuka pointed out, looking around as well.

Saya sighed, this time out of sheer frustration. "God, if it isn't one thing, it's another…" she muttered.

She retracted that statement a bit though when at that moment, Asami and Hiro came around the corner, carrying a bunch of stuff in their arms. They huffed a bit in exhaustion. Whatever they had gone around to get must have been a bit tiring.

"What is all that?" Shizuka asked, pointing at what they had in their arms with a curious expression on her face.

"Some things we got from the sports stores," Hiro answered. Sure enough in his arms were quite the array of baseball bats, a golf club or two and a bit more. Asami carried something to similar to him, although she did have a few hockey sticks in the pile she was holding up.

"Here," Asami said as she then began to pass out the bats and hockey sticks. Hiro followed her lead and handed one to Shizuka and Saya as well.

"And just what the hell are we going to do with these?" one of the mall survivors asked.

"We're fucking leaving this place," Hiro said sternly.

The mall survivors looked at him as if he just grew a second head. "Are you out-" one began, but Hiro cut the person off.

"I should be the one asking you that! Look guys, there's a huge bunch of them right outside the damn doors and they are itching to just get in here! I don't care how many their friends," he gestured to Saya, Shizuka, and Alice, "take down because there will only be more! And I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be their damn supper. If I do die trying to escape though, then at least I won't go down without a fight."

His slight outburst seemed to strike them hard and after a moment of consideration, the mall survivors slowly began to take their pick of sports equipment from Hiro's and Asami's arms.

"Wow, you're a really good persuader!" Asami whispered to him.

Hiro chuckled sheepishly as he stood next to her. "I couldn't help it," he whispered back.

"Well? Are you all ready to go?" Saya asked after noting that everyone, even the elderly couple, had a weapon of some sorts. Even Asami, who already had a gun, had a metal baseball bat for close quarters. Hiro did as well. Saya still had her gun, but now also a hockey stick while Shizuka had a golf club. Alice on the other hand had no weapon; they didn't want her to have to get involved in the fighting.

Hesitantly the mall survivors nodded their heads at Saya's question. "I just hope you know what you're doing," one said.

Saya sighed. "Well, if it goes wrong, just be happy that our deaths will be relatively quick." And while that statement didn't help boost their confidence, they began to move out.

Back outside, Rei and Saeko were still fairing quite well, albeit not as well as they did in the beginning. While pretty athletic for high school girls, they didn't have as much stamina as Lady, who has been fighting demons for years now and so they were beginning to tire out as the number of Them was finally getting to them. They had a few bruises and cuts from close calls they have had such as when they were actually grabbed by one of Them and were wrestled to the ground rather roughly. It was a predicament that they had escaped in their own little ways, Rei stabbing the one that grabbed her right through the forehead. Despite the blood that trickled out from the entry hole, it was still a relatively clean death compared to the one Saeko dished out on the zombie pinning her down. She had placed her sword in between her and even maneuvered it right against its throat and immediately pressed as hard as she could against it. The neck had proven to be strong in comparison to the rest of its frail body so it took Saeko pulling back and slamming the blade into it several times to cut the head off, something that resulted in a good bit of blood getting on her clothes.

Thankfully though they were not bitten and Kohta was still giving them support from the roof, shooting down any approaching stragglers so that they would only have to worry with a few at a time. The girls were currently standing back to back, two zombies coming at each one. Saeko readied her sword while Rei did the same with her gun.

Both waited until the zombies shambled a bit closer before striking. with one swift movement of her arms, Saeko brought her sword up diagonally, slicing through the jaw and upwards of the one on her left. Once her blade completely passed through its head, Saeko immediately focused on the other one and brought down her sword at an angle, slicing through its head in a manner similar to the zombie she just killed only from the opposite direction.

Saeko took a few steps back, but nearly slipped in doing so. Looking down, she noticed how much blood there was surrounding them. The undead that she, Rei, and Kohta have struck must have really been bleeding out afterwards for the ground to be this wet. "This is bad. The longer we fight, the more stamina we'll lose. Not only that, but killing more of Them is actually proving to be a bad thing; the blood will just make us literally slip up," she thought.

While Saeko was busy thinking things over, Rei had just struck the two coming at her. She lunged straight, gun held straight out in front of her at a bit of an upwards angle. She stabbed one right through the eye and as the bayonet on the gun slid out of the now bloody hole, Rei kicked the body back as it had begun to fall towards her. Right after that, she was quick to repeat the same attack on the other one.

She huffed in exhaustion. Even though the bodies of Them were now rather frail, stabbing Them was still tiring especially when done so many times already. Although she didn't know it, Rei was thinking along the same lines as Saeko right now.

She began to turn around. "Hey senp-," she began to say, but then as she fully turned, she saw a few Scarecrows not even several feet away from them. "Look out!"

Saeko snapped out of her thoughts at Rei's shout and looked up in time to see the nearest Scarecrow move towards her, rearing back its blade arm. Saeko silently cursed; how could she have been so caught up in her thoughts to not notice them?

She raised her sword in time to block the Scarecrow's blade as it tried to cut her. At that moment, Rei moved right next to Saeko and stabbed the Scarecrow as hard as she could. She felt the bayonet tip plunge into the Scarecrow's side and it let out a bit of a yell to signify this. But it wasn't enough to stop it and the Scarecrow pulled back, a bit of the black blood that it has be shown to have leaking out a bit from the wound. It reared back its arm again to get some payback, but then a torrent of bullets from the rooftop struck it all over its body, new holes appearing.

The volley of bullets kept coming until a few seconds later, the Scarecrow's body lost too much of its blood and died. The girls were relieved that they had avoided that one and looked up to the roof briefly to see Kohta nod at them, which they returned, very grateful for the assist. Kohta himself was thankful for that as well. If Rei hadn't yelled, he would've still be shooting down the zombies coming from the opposite direction. He pulled out the spent magazine and put in a fresh one; the Scarecrow took the bullets he had left in the previous one just to kill. Kohta didn't want to imagine how many bullets total it would take to get rid of the rest.

But he didn't have to worry about that too much, for more of Them appeared and much to the surprise of Rei and Saeko, who readied themselves against the approaching Scarecrows, the demons seemed to let out what they supposed was a growl and actually turned to focus on Them. The Scarecrow, while weak for demons, proved their superiority over the zombies by quickly cutting Them down, bodies hitting the ground almost immediately.

"What are they doing?" Kohta muttered to himself, witnessing this from above. He wasn't exactly complaining about this turn of events though; meant that he could conserve ammo here.

"Hirano-kun!" The voice took Kohta by surprise and he nearly fell back. Looking down, he saw Saeko and Rei looking up at him. "We should go right now! Leave them to kill each other!" Saeko yelled up at him.

"What about everyone inside?" he asked.

"We'll get them out right now, but we can't stay here any longer!" Saeko said back.

Kohta looked at them, seeming almost hesitant, but a second later he nodded in understanding. Quickly gathering up his supplies, Kohta stepped onto the edge of the roof and looked down for a good place to jump. He noticed a dumpster nearby and it didn't look like the height distance from the roof to it was that bad, so steeling himself a bit, Kohta jumped off the roof and onto the dumpster. The landing wasn't exactly what he had in mind though as he slammed into the dumpster lid butt first, eliciting a loud grunt from him and he rolled himself off of it.

"You alright?" Rei asked as she and Saeko approached him.

"I'm fine. Let's just go get the others. The demons and zombies are too busy focusing on each other right now to head for the door," Kohta said and he motioned to the mall doors with his head, his arms a bit busy carrying his stuff to point.

The girls turned to see and sure enough the area in front of the mall doors was practically empty. A few zombies did linger by it, but the noise the Scarecrows were making with their little killing spree was drawing Them away.

Without another word, they made to the doors, but they didn't even get a dozen steps towards it before the doors burst open. Out of the mall came the mall survivors with Saya, Shizuka, Alice along with Zeke now on the ground by her, and Asami leading the way. Saya turned to see the zombies being cut down and practically flung around by the Scarecrows and while she was definitely surprised by this, she wasn't going to that let bother her. She looked back to the group and saw that they was now quite reluctant to move at the sight of the demons nearby. "Well? Don't just stand there! Let's move!" she snapped at them, not caring if the zombies and demons heard.

That snapped them out of it and they all quickly began to move forwards and away from the danger. "Takagi-san!" Kohta said happily. That drew hers and the groups attention and they slowed down for Kohta, Rei, and Saeko to come catch up.

"Good job thinning the numbers," Asami said, in awe of how little zombies there were now compared to earlier.

"Damn good job," Hiro muttered, noticing the bodies and its contents spatter all over the place.

"Praise them later!" Saya said before the trio could respond to Asami's and Hiro's compliments. That got them moving again. "Where are Dante and Lady? Or Takashi for that matter?" she asked while they moved.

That suddenly made them worry. "Shit, we forgot about them!" Kohta exclaimed.

"Don't worry! They'll be alright… right?" Alice said uncertainly.

"Of course they will," Shizuka said cheerfully, "they'll come back to us." She hugged Alice close to her a bit, unknowingly adding some extra weight to the young girl as her huge breasts now practically sat on top of Alice's head.

"Glad to know you all care." The group turned to see Dante and Lady walking straight towards them as though they weren't in such a deadly situation still.

"Lady-san! Dante-san!" Shizuka said happily, sounding a bit more happier when she said Dante's name. Some noticed this, Dante included, but decided to focus on the matter at hand first.

"Alright, we can save the talk for later. For now let's just get out of here," Lady said. Seeing Dante and Lady again had lifted their worries a bit and so the group agreed to it for now.

"But what about Takashi?" Rei asked when they started to move again, all of the group having their sports weapons raised defensively.

Dante spared her a glance. "He'll be fine. He's kinda like me: too damn stubborn to go down. I can that much about him."

"I can vouch for that part," Lady said with a small smirk.

However, while this brief exchange occurred, one of the Scarecrows that had a blade on its leg had noticed them leaving and so had begun to creep it way towards them in silence when they were simply standing a moment ago. And it chose this moment to attack. Jumping high into the air, Dante and Lady didn't notice its shadow until it could be deemed too late.

A mall survivor, a pale young man, happened to be unfortunate enough to be under its shadow. Noticing it, he looked up and screamed when he saw the Scarecrow just above him. He was silenced forever though when the Scarecrow brought its blade leg down, impaling the young man through his face. This alerted the rest of the group.

The mall survivors began to scream and panic, nearly rushing off on their own and unintentionally getting in the way of the fighters of the group, that being Dante, Lady, Rei, and Saeko. Asami, Hiro, and Saya were trying to get the group under control while also making sure they were all a good distance away so that at least one of the fighters could deal with the demon, but the mall survivors weren't listening. Alice stayed to the side along with Shizuka. Zeke moved in front of Alice as though to defend her, indicated by him snarling at the demon.

"Shit!" Kohta muttered. He was trying to get a good shot at the Scarecrow while it was busy trying to get its leg out of its victim's face, but the mall survivors were running around wildly, obscuring his line of fire. Lady was having a similar problem. Dante was tempted to move forward and slash the demon down, but he didn't want to risk accidently hitting someone else as a side effect.

Rei and Saeko were the closest to the Scarecrow though and they tried to muscle their way past some of the petrified mall survivors, but when they finally did, it was too late. The Scarecrow had just gotten its blade out of the guy's face, the body crumpling to the ground. The demon then turned to face the girls.

Rei and Saeko immediately tried to attack it before it could do so to them, but unfortunately, the Scarecrow's attack speed was much greater than theirs. Without any kind of warning, the Scarecrow went into some kind of deadly spin, its blade leg sticking right out to cut the girls down. Rei, the closest to it, was about to be hit by it.

Rei, knowing that it was too late to avoid, steeled herself and waited for it to come, but was startled out of this sense of resignation when Saeko suddenly ran in front of her and pushed her out of the way. As Saeko did so, she also tried to move in the direction she shoved the girl to avoid the blade as well, but it was too late for her. The Scarecrow's leg made contact with her lower back at a bit of an downwards angle. Saeko screamed slightly in pain when the blade cut across her lower back a bit.

"Senpai!" Rei exclaimed. Getting back up, she quickly grabbed the now falling Saeko and pulled her away from the demon. But the Scarecrow had finished its spin and began to move towards them again.

But it didn't even get a few steps before a huge blade came out of nowhere and impaled it right through its stomach. It let out a cry of pain as on instinct it started to struggle to get itself off the huge blade.

"Die, God damn it!" a voice cried out. The blade was pulled out of the Scarecrow and before it even knew what happened, it was shoved through it again, this time getting the head. Its black blood spew out as the blade was quickly pulled out again.

As the Scarecrow slowly fell down nearly in two, the mall survivors stopped panicking enough for Dante, Lady and everyone else to see who just killed it. Standing behind the corpse of the demon was none other than Takashi. He glared down at the Scarecrow, his grip tightening on the huge blade still in his hand.

He had gotten it from the Mega Scarecrow when he beat just a while ago. It had been quite the hard fight, the huge demon proving to be highly resilient even with Gilgamesh boosting his strength, but Takashi had been able to take it down after getting under it and ripping off one of its legs, a feat that had proved to be harder than expected, but worth it as not only did it seriously hurt the Mega Scarecrow, but it also robbed it of the little mobility it had to begin with. After doing that, he had jumped on top of it after it fell down from the imbalance it now had and he unintentionally struck it with the explosive punch known as Shock. The strike, while not on the same level as Dante's, was enough to completely obliterate the Mega Scarecrow's head. As the body had begun to deflate as the black blood flowed out from the stump, one of its blade shot out to impale Takashi, but he caught it before it could even scratch him. After which he noticed the group being attacked and led up to now.

"Let's go before more decide to come," he said as he dropped the massive blade. This snapped them out of their thoughts at seeing him and followed him as he quickly located the big gap in the barricade and ran out.

As soon as they did, they immediately took note of over a dozen zombies loitering about the area, but they were too far to be of concern right now.

"Just keep moving everyone," Takashi said. After saying that, he slowed down so that he was next to Saeko. "You alright?"

She nodded. "I'm not losing that much blood so the wound isn't too deep," she responded.

Takashi sighed in relief. "Better get it checked out though when you get the chance. Better safe than sorry," he said, getting a nod from Saeko.

They all kept running for a while before they had to stop in order for the mall survivors to rest a bit. Takashi and his group were just fine in terms of stamina, mainly due to a bit of adrenaline in some of their cases.

"Oh god, oh god…" one of the mall survivors kept muttering, "just what do we do now?"

"Well, I'd suggest you all get to some kind of safe zone," Lady suggested, actually hoping that she won't have to be around them any longer.

"And just where the hell do we go?" one snapped.

"Don't know. Your best bet would be maybe a harbor or some high point. Surely there has to be some kind of rescue effort going on," Lady replied.

"But still, where-?" the guy began.

Hiro interrupted him. "Look man, she doesn't know, but she's helping us as best as she can so just shut up," he snapped.

Lady flashed Hiro a brief smile, glad to know that one of the mall survivors was actually nice and on her side.

The guy grumbled, but didn't say anything else to them. "Well, looks like we better get going. Staying around like this isn't exactly a good thing," Hiro then said to Lady and the others.

"You sure?" Takashi asked. He and the others didn't know Hiro too well and no one could really blame them, but he felt that he may miss the guy; it was hard to come across someone who didn't give them crap half of the time.

Hiro looked back to the mall survivors, who were still resting up a bit. "Yeah. I think if we don't go now, these guys will be too damn scared to move from this spot afterwards."

"You got that right," Saya muttered, remembering how stubborn they were in not leaving the store.

Then a kind of awkward silence descended upon them. A moment later, Hiro broke it. "Well… take care of yourselves, I guess."

"Yeah. You too," Takashi said.

Hiro nodded and then turned to the mall survivors. "Come on guys, let's go."

"Already?" the guy from earlier asked, evidently scared to go to the nearest harbor or something.

"You want to wait around for more zombies or demons?" Hiro asked.

That question was all it took to get them slowly get up and start moving. As the group began to walk off, Hiro stopped real quick after noticing Asami staying behind with the group. "Yo, police lady, are you coming with us too?"

Asami, who was silent for a while due to catching her breath, looked up at him. "Uhhh, should I?"

Hiro rubbed the back of his head. "Well, not to pressure you, but it would be nice to have you with us. Since you got a gun, it would probably keep all of those noisy bastards quiet and calm."

Asami looked torn, her sense of duty compelling her to stay with the mall survivors to watch over them, while there was also another part of her that had gotten quite close to the lively and determined group that Takashi pretty much led in the very short amount of time that she knew them.

"Uhhh, well… you see…." Asami, usually the talker despite her very easygoing and sensitive personality, didn't know what to say.

A few moments passed as she contemplated what to do before Kohta nudged her. "Asami-san."

"K-Kohta-kun?" she asked, wondering what he wanted to say.

He seemed emotionless for a brief second before flashing her a small smile. "You should go with them. Someone with authority should keep an eye on them."

Asami's eyes widened at his words. Everyone else raised an eyebrow at this too. They may not know what exactly went on down at the mall while they were busy with everything else, but after Kohta had helped her out by handing her the gun to control the group, they seemed to sense something between the two.

Asami opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it before opening it up again afterwards. "Okay," she said with a small smile of her own.

Kohta nodded at her. Asami then turned to face the rest of the group and bowed. "Thank you very much for all of your help! Asami couldn't have made it out of there without you guys!"

The group smiled at her. "Ah, don't sweat it. Just make sure to give them all a kick in the ass to keep them in line," Dante said with a smirk.

Asami giggled at his words before looking a little solemn. "Bye." And with that she turned to face Hiro. "Let's go."

Hiro merely nodded, not really having anything to say now. He gave a little wave to the group and the two took off running in the direction of the mall survivors. The group watched them leave, not moving from their spots until after the two were out of sight.

"Time to get moving," Takashi said calmly.

"Ah, Busujima-san, let me look at your back," Shizuka said as she saw the cut Saeko had.

"Oh, don't worry about it for now. We can wait until we get to a building to stay in for a while," Saeko replied.

Shizuka was about to insist on doing that, but then looked past Saeko at Rei and froze. A few seconds later she started to laugh, but tried to stifle it. Dante and Lady looked at the busty nurse, trying to figure out what made her start laughing. Everyone else though ignored her laughter, Takashi deciding to take the time they were spending talking to speak with Kohta and Saya on what exactly they should do next. Alice was busy tickling Zeke for being brave and Saeko was merely sitting down now while Rei was simply off in front of Shizuka, looking off in the distance whilst thinking of something.

"What's up?" Dante asked Shizuka, wonder what tickled her funny bone. Shizuka didn't speak, instead pointing to something. Dante looked quizzically at her before looking at what she was pointing at. When he did, his eyes widened before he started laughing too. Lady observed what got their attention and she shook her head. "Good grief," she muttered, but she had a small smile on her face, apparently amused.

"Something wrong?" Takashi asked, he and Kohta and Saya finally taking note of their laughter. Dante pointed at what he was laughing at and the trio looked. Almost immediately, Saya shook her, unable to believe what she was seeing. Kohta and Takashi on the other hand, were having reactions that only made Dante and Shizuka laugh harder. Kohta's face was turning as red as Dante's coat while Takashi placed one hand over his nose to prevent a nosebleed while keeping his other hand near the hem of his shirt in case the blood rushing to his face decided to head down to a certain part of his lower anatomy and make him pull his shirt down to cover up.

Alice and Saeko snapped out of their thoughts and looked at the five of them questioningly. Slowly, the two turned their gaze to where their friends were looking at and Alice immediately joined Dante and Shizuka in laughter while Saeko tried to stifle a chuckle at the sight before them: Rei. She had her back turned to all of them as she appeared to contemplate something. However, had she not been thinking so hard she would have noticed earlier what the group is noticing now: when Saeko pushed her out of the way of the Scarecrow's attack, she had landed hard on her rear, tearing part of the back of her skirt right off, exposing her firm, shapely butt for all to see. The white panties she had on clung tightly to her rear, only making it all the funnier to the group who were now laughing at her unintentional indecent exposure.

"Uhhh…. R-Rei…" Takashi mumbled out hesitantly, completely unsure of what to say. When she didn't respond, he spoke again. "Rei!"

That got her attention this time. "Huh? What?"

Takashi tried to look away, but found his eyes wandering back to her ass every time. "W-well... uhhh…. You see…" he tried to think of a way to tell her without making her feel more embarrassed than she already will be, but he couldn't find the right words to say. The others weren't exactly helping him, being perfectly content to go on with their laughter.

However, divine intervention seemed to kick in, sparing Takashi from having to tell her. A breeze passed through the area and immediately Rei felt a difference when it hit her. She felt that part of her legs didn't feel the breeze that much while her butt felt the entirety of it. She turned her head as far as she could and look down at her butt and froze when she saw her state of wear.

Dante and Shizuka started laughing even harder at Rei's expression while Takashi felt himself turn redder than he already was. At the increase in their reactions, Rei immediately turned around so that she was facing them now while placing her hands over her exposed rear.

"Wha- whe-?" she stuttered out.

"Probably when I pushed you," Saeko responded, a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter now. "It is fortunate that no one noticed until now."

At those last words, Rei, although very embarrassed, did feel a bit better; at least it was just her group that saw and not the mall survivors too otherwise, she die from shame.

Alice, laughing far too hard, accidently stumbled over to where Saeko was now standing and tripped over a small rock. Losing her balance, Alice stumbled forward and accidently grabbed hold of the cut part of Saeko's shirt. Alice then fell and her weight and momentum resulted in her tearing off a good portion of Saeko's shirt. The awkward angle that the shirt tore at not only showed off Saeko's lightly toned stomach, but also a bit of the underside of her left breast, covered up by a purple lace bra.

The reaction to this was immediate. Dante's and Shizuka's laughter grew, Shizuka's more than Dante's to the point that she had to use him as a crutch to keep herself from doubling over. Lady was now chuckling and Saya looked torn between looking annoyed at the sheer ridiculousness of the scene or following Lady's example. Rei, despite her embarrassment, couldn't help but snicker at Saeko now, feeling that it was some sort of karma striking back at her.

But Takashi's and Kohta's were by far the most severe. Kohta's face was turning so red that it was a bit of a miracle that he didn't faint. Takashi, still with his hands over his nose and near the hem of his shirt, was desperately trying to look anywhere but at either of the girls.

Alice quickly got up and began to apologize to Saeko, who currently had her arms folded across to cover up. Her face was red from embarrassment and she kept on shrugging off Alice's apologies, saying that it was okay, but it was clear that she was feeling rather flustered. Zeke was running circles around Alice barking happily, indicating that he too found the scene to be quite amusing.

"Damn, this group sure knows how to provide entertainment," Dante said as he began to slowly stop laughing.

But while they were busy enjoying themselves, some of Them had finished eating the Blitz. Shidou's eating of it had caused a bit of noise from inside the dumpster, attracting some of his fellow undead towards it. At first, they just kept smacking into the dumpster, but eventually when enough got together, they smacked it so hard that, combined with the unbalanced weight of Shidou and the partially eaten corpse of the Blitz inside, had caused the dumpster to fall over and send Shidou and the corpse falling out.

The fall hadn't deterred the undead Shidou's eating at all and some of the zombies around him joined in. Now they were done and already changes had taken place. The changes made to their bodies differed between one another in terms of severity, but for the most part, the seven zombies that took part in feasting alongside Shidou had taken on a more mangled looking version of the Blitz's strong, but lithe arms. Others had grown a bit taller and leaner, their pale skin stretching and even tearing to reveal their rotting muscle tissue.

But while they were relatively normal, Shidou had taken on the most change due to feasting on the Blitz more than Them. He had grown taller too by about five inches, but it would be unclear to anyone if he had torn his skin for his torso had some of the rocky skin that made up the Blitz's torso. His left arm looked longer to match his new height while his right arm had looked like the mangled new arms of his new demonified zombie comrades. His face looked narrower as well, his jaw looking like it was stuck halfway between looking normal and looking like that of a Blitz's.

The changed Shidou let out a distorted growl, his voice a combination of his own and a Blitz's. He couldn't hear anything save for the slightly distorted moaning of the demonified zombies around him. He looked towards the sky for a moment before he began to take a lumbering step forward.

Meanwhile, all around the city, battles were being waged. Demons, now apparently knowing that the zombies have begun to attack and eat them, have begun to make their own move against Them as well. Assaults could be seen in the downtown area, crushing massive scores of Them underfoot as they let out roars that would attract more to them. It would only be a matter of time until the numbers became too much for them.

In the more residential areas, Scarecrows and their larger brethren, the Mega Scarecrows, were lumbering about, cutting down any undead that they came across. To add to this, Mephistos and even a few Fausts that have just recently shown up in the human world have started to phase through the walls of houses, killing anything that they came across, be it Them or people that were still alive and hiding. Some neighborhoods were soon completely covered with blood and entrails and more as the demons were quick, brutal, and efficient in their seemingly random search.

But it wasn't only the demons that were making a move now for all the noise going on, be it from the demons or from the alive humans that they came across, was driving Them around all over the place, intent on making a meal out of whatever was drawing Them.

A war of sorts was erupting between the demons and the undead. And it was escalating quickly.

And there we go! Damn, over 7,000 words long! Definitely a new record for me! Not only that, but this chapter officially concludes the whole mall event, which I am sure happy over; the mall survivors were annoying me and I wrote what they said too!

And please oh please to anyone reading this that is sad over Asami leaving, please don't hate me! I have my reasons (which I hope to reveal soon)!

Now on to move on real quick, chances are I won't start writing the next chapter for a few weeks or so due to my new semester. That and I am currently debating with myself whether or not I want to do a one-shot before that. So I apologize in advance.

Now moving back to a more positive note…. Well there really is nothing for me to say other than thank you to everyone who has been reading this fic so far! Special shout out to **Panther-Strife, Tensa Zangetsu** **17, and Ultimate-Zelda-fan!** And also to**: Panther-Freedom02, Ranma Uzumaki, Dark Vizard447, Kamen Rider Ebon, Funeral of the Fallen Musician, Kwonkicker, kingdomlily, Jet Black Jr, Silber D. Wolf, ZidanReign, GREAT CELESTAL-DRAGON, Mickj6,** **Dragonwars50, Hypothetical Spiritual Entity, and anyone and everyone else who has ever reviewed or favorite or just simply read this fic! I know that this thank you is long over due, but Thank You!**


	19. Chapter 19

Alrighty, I'm feeling pretty rested now despite the slight workload/studying I have to do for my classes. Which is really saying something. Man, I love this semester, so easy so far. I just hope to get through my GE classes without much trouble and get into what I really want to do: my damn major classes!

Moving on, as I'm sure you can see I decided to go straight through with this chapter rather than attempt a one-shot idea I had in mind. Perhaps next time I'll give the idea a whirl. That and I really gotta remember to post some ideas in the challenge forums or something…..

Anyways, on to the chapter!

Chapter 19

The group had been on the move for just a while now. After having settled down after laughing at the expense of Rei and Saeko, they had gotten serious once more and were now trying to get to a relatively zombie free zone. This was something that they were having rather bad luck in, having encountered small groups of Them so far that the group had easily disposed of.

But while the undead were only being seen in small clusters so far, it disturbed the group a bit at how quiet it seemed to be so far. Other than the zombies they've put six feet under so far, there were no signs whatsoever of demons or humans, which really didn't sit well with any of them for different reasons. Dante and Lady were worried that the demons had something big planned despite their aggressive and not too intelligent attacks. Takashi, Kohta, Rei, Saeko, Saya, and Shizuka on the other hand were much more concerned with how many people were still alive. The eerie silence so far in the area wasn't exactly putting them at ease. And lastly, Alice, with Zeke running right alongside her, was simply worried about what may happen next.

"Sure hope nothing real bad is going to happen. I'd like some time to rest after the whole mall fiasco just now," Kohta said, getting grunts of agreement from the rest of the group. While they had gotten to meet some nice people like Asami and Hiro during their short time at the mall, the resulting headaches from the mall survivors and the ensuing fights with demons and zombies alike was rather draining. Even Dante didn't want to have to through that sort of hassle anytime soon.

"Well, as soon as we find some place to hole up in for a while, we should hopefully be able to relax a bit," Takashi said as he slowed his jogging pace, surveying the neighborhood for any home that looked like it hadn't been hit by zombies or demons yet. So far, he was having no luck, blood spattered all across some of the houses while those that didn't look or smell of death certainly made up for it by looking like something out of a war movie, what with busted walls and broken windows and all.

"Which might take quite a while to find," Kohta mumbled upon seeing the state of the area.

Dante rubbed his chin. "Well, it's not as bad as my place," he muttered, but everyone heard him.

"What?" Saya asked, not believing what she just heard. His place was in a worse state than the houses here?

Dante sighed, having hope they didn't hear, but as he knew his luck was bad. "My place is sometimes attacked by demons," he said simply.

That seemed to satisfy the surprised curiosity of the group. However, Lady chose to throw in her two cents. "With some help from yourself of course." She snickered. "Like when you told me of how you broke your own jukebox when it wouldn't play during one attack. And then the time you sliced your pool table in half to use against the invading demons. And let's not forget all the times you've kicked down your own doors."

Lady tried to suppress a laugh at Dante's angry face and the group's shocked ones. But she wasn't done just yet with the slight teasing of her fellow devil hunter. "Oh wait, I remember now. You did all of that in one day."

The group, still moving, spared a glance at Dante, wonder why the hell he would wreck his own home. Dante shot them a glare of sorts that made them focus on the houses they were passing by once more. "Scary glare he's got," Kohta muttered, but Dante heard him and was going to retort, but decided to focus on Lady instead, who was running alongside him.

"In my defense, my crib would have been wrecked anyway from their attacks. And besides, I always fight with the tools at hand," he said, saying that last part in a lighter mood of sorts at the fond memories of his late teens. Granted that particular day was ruined with all the crap that that Lady's crazy dad threw his way, but the fights he had along the way made up for it a bit. And he did get to settle things up a bit with Vergil that time too, finally beating him, despite how things turned out in the end.

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night," Lady responded in good humor.

Dante grumbled something that she couldn't hear and they both fell silent. The rest of the group was quiet as well as they traversed through the empty streets of the neighborhood. That is, until some began to feel tired.

"Takashi-onii-chan?" Alice spoke up, sweat rolling down a little on her head. Takashi turned his head to look at her. Once she saw this, she spoke up again. "Can we stop for a bit? I'm getting tired," she said.

"I'm feeling a little tired too," Shizuka said, panting slightly now.

Takashi craned his head over his shoulder as much as he could to see how everyone else was holding up. Dante and Lady still looked to be in top condition. Rei and Saeko on the other hand looked to be tiring out pretty quickly right now and Takashi couldn't blame for all the fighting they had to do at the mall. Kohta seemed a bit better than Rei and Saeko in the stamina department right now thanks to him having been rooted to one spot on the mall roof and thus conserving stamina, but all the running around they were doing was beginning to take its toll on him a bit. Takashi looked back at Alice and noticed that she really did look tired and so did Zeke, who was still keeping pace with her. Shizuka, right behind Alice, seemed to be doing better than the others save for the devil hunters since she has done no fighting so far. Saya, who was near Shizuka, was doing about the same as the busty nurse as far as stamina went too.

Takashi, however, felt perfectly fine still aside from Dante and Lady. But he knew that he had to watch out for the health of his group too. "Alright," he said to Alice with a small smile, "let's take a break for a bit."

The young girl gave Takashi a bit of a grateful smile that he returned. Everyone let out a sigh of relief a bit at the prospect of rest; moving around so much after a fiasco like the mall was very tiring.

They all then moved up against a nearby wall for now, Kohta and Saeko briefly glancing around to make sure there were no zombies or demons around. Dante and Lady noticed this, chalking it up to possibly still be on a slight surge of adrenaline; it does take a while for it to wear off.

"Ah man, my legs are kind of killing me," Rei whined as she sat down, careful in doing so as her skirt was still ripped. She had stayed near the back of the group the whole time as to avoid having them look at her butt and right now she really didn't want it to tear off another piece of it by sliding down the wall or something as no one had anything else for her to put on. Saeko was in a similar position with her shirt for she had not bothered to cover up the torn part of it while running for no one could see, but now that she wasn't on the move, Saeko opted for keeping her arms crossed under her breasts.

"All clear," Kohta said to no one in particular. After that, he let out a sigh before leaning up against the wall. As he did so, Alice along with Shizuka sat down next to him. Zeke walked on over to Alice and jumped into her lap, prompting the girl to scratch behind his ear out of affection before she looked up at Kohta.

"Kohta-chan, are you alright?" she asked, noting his downtrodden expression.

Kohta looked down at Alice and flashed her a tired smile. "I'm fine. Just feeling a bit out of it is all."

Alice gave him a studying look, trying to see if he was lying to her or something, but she gave up after a minute or two. "Okay," she said before looking away.

Takashi saw the interaction going on between the two and decided to get a bit involved too. "You sure? you don't look too good."

Kohta turned his gaze onto Takashi. "Yeah." His response was short and simple, but Takashi wasn't buying it.

Dante and Lady seemed to be in the same boat as him too for Dante called Kohta out on what he believed was the problem. "You miss that police chick, don't you?" he said bluntly.

Kohta twitched at Dante's words and looked about ready to retort, but then gave up on that idea. A few seconds past before Kohta spoke. "Yeah. I kinda do."

Lady took a step forward from where she and Dante were standing. "You two sure grew close," she commented, "you haven't known each other that long, but you really do miss her. And I'm sure she misses you too."

Kohta looked over to the female devil hunter. "Really? You think she does miss me?" he asks.

Lady flashed him a small smile. "Pretty sure she does."

Kohta didn't seem to react at first, but after what seemed like a long time, he smiled. Takashi smiled too, glad to see that he was more or less back to his former self now. "Lady does have a point: the two of them really did get close," he thought.

"Shame she had to leave with a simple goodbye though," Dante started in with a smirk, "I bet you wanted her to give you a kiss before leaving. Or you at least wanted to be the one to do it and knock her off her own feet." Dante snickered at the blushing face at Kohta. Lady shook her head at this and Takashi and the others were trying not to laugh at what was going on. Dante sure knew how to get under people's skin with simple and relatively short statements.

Takashi managed to keep his cool long enough to also note that at first Kohta didn't seem to like the devil hunters that much, but now it looked like his dislike of the two was gone if the very small smile on his annoyed face was anything to go by. "Looks like we're all getting along just fine," Takashi muttered to himself as he leaned up against a wall.

He watched as everyone else in the group began to chat a bit, talking about things that he wasn't paying attention too. As Takashi slightly listened in on some bits of the conversation going around, he looked off into the distance in an attempt to see if there were any houses on this block that were relatively untouched by both zombies and demons.

He was unsuccessful in this self-assigned task, but he saw something that he believed more than made up for it. Off at the corner of the street they were currently on, there was a street sign that was still standing. And Takashi recognized the name of the street as one being very close to his house. "Holy shit!" he nearly yelled, but he was able to restrain himself to enough so that it came out as a somewhat harsh whisper.

Nonetheless, it caught the attention of everyone else. "What's wrong?" Dante asked as he slightly tensed up for a fight. Lady, Kohta, Rei, and Saeko did the same while Alice and Zeke were held onto tightly by Shizuka.

"I know where the fuck we're at! We're near my house!" Takashi told them without looking away from the corner. Now that he knew what street this was, he was able to recognize the area a bit. The reason he didn't recognize it earlier was because this was never a direction that he went in. That and the blood and damaged houses really changed things.

Takashi gulped. They had really traveled that far? They got all the way from the mall to near his house? He couldn't believe that they all had been on the move for that long. "No wonder they were tired," Takashi thought.

While he was occupied with these thoughts, Rei took several steps forward from where she was, not seeming to care now if the group saw the back of her torn skirt anymore. "You're right!" she said after a moment of silence as she too began to recognize things that she would have recognized immediately if not for the sad state of the neighborhood.

Rei began to feel a bit excited; there was a chance that she and Takashi could find their parents right now. She turned to Takashi to see if he was feeling the same as she, but upon sparing said teen a glance, it was obvious that this was not the case.

Takashi looked slightly afraid, dreading something. It was clear to everyone that he was being presented with a chance to see if his parents were alright, assuming they were even home still, something that was very doubtful. But rather than be elated at this opportunity, Takashi was scared of what may very well be a bloodbath at his house. The state of the area wasn't exactly helping making this feeling go away.

"Hey Takashi," Dante called out.

Takashi snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah," he answered in a somewhat shaky voice.

Dante gazed at him for several seconds before speaking again. "You want to go by your place?"

Takashi, although he expected the question, couldn't help but feel taken aback by it a bit. He was glad that he could return home to see what became of it, but that was also why he was so damned scared right now: finding out what may have come to happen to his parents. Right now, he was having an internal struggle of sorts going on. One part of him said to just leave his home be and move on, out of fear of what to see. But there was another part of him that told him to just suck it up and face whatever may happen because to do so otherwise would be an affront to his parents.

A few moments of silence later, Takashi had his answer. "Yeah. Let's swing by real quick."

No one in the group said anything, merely nodding in response. They followed Takashi as he then began to lead the way to his home. Takashi was silent the whole time as he led them around the corner and straight down the street, feeling a lump in his throat form as he noticed that the houses seemed to be bloodier and more damaged than the ones they had past by moments earlier.

Takashi fought down the feeling of dread slowly appeared as several moments later the group finally reached his house. It was a rather plain looking place, what with Takashi and his family being middle class. The house was two stories tall like most of the other houses on the block and just like those other homes, it was damaged rather badly, some pieces of the walls completely gone. The rest of the house had some spider web cracks running along the sides. The group couldn't see if the roof had taken any damage, but from what could be seen, it seems the roof was just fine as was the lawn.

Takashi let out a breath he didn't know he was holding upon the sight of his damaged, but blood free home and silently hoped that the same could be said for the inside. He started up the short path to the front door, Dante and Rei picking up their walking pace a bit to be relatively close to the teen.

Takashi reached out for the door knob, but as soon as he took hold of it and turned, he nearly yelped when the door nearly fell right off the hinges. Thankfully, he was still able to retain his hold on the door knob despite the suddenness of the breaking off and so Takashi was able to avoid making too much noise.

Gripping the sides of the door now, Takashi walked inside his house and placed the door up against the side of the wall. "Close call right there," Lady said to herself as she and everyone began to walk in single file after Takashi moved aside for them.

"No kidding," Kohta said as he entered and took a closer look at the door. He noted how the hinges looked very weak. He was amazed that it hadn't fallen off on its own much earlier. "It's definitely been put under a lot of stress before."

Takashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, the door's been in that state for months now. My parents kept talking about getting it fixed or replaced, but just never got around to it."

"Well, they could have at least made the doorway a bit taller," Dante complained as he had to duck his head slightly to get into the house.

The group snickered a bit. "I'll keep that in mind," Takashi said to the devil hunter before gaining a serious and slightly nervous expression as he then turned around to survey the room. Right now, they were in the living room and it didn't look very banged up at all. In fact, the group noted that it was rather untouched by anything if the very light layer of dust on a nearby table was anything to judge by.

"Wah, Komuro-kun, your house is really clean," Shizuka said at how the room was perfectly fine, at least in comparison to what was being expected by everyone.

"Thanks," Takashi replied with a smile, the burden that he had felt being lifted considerably at the sight of his house so far. He took it as a good sign and so began to hope for the best right now.

"Well, just because the living room is fine doesn't mean that the rest of this house is. And there's still a chance that one of Them could have come in through the back door," Saya said, killing the good mood that Takashi had been settling into.

"Right." Takashi started walking forward, heading for the stairs so that he could check out the state of his room and his parents' room. "We should split up real quick and search the rest of my house. Don't want any nasty surprises, right?"

"Uh, Takashi onii-chan, should we take off our shoes first?" Alice asked.

Takashi turned around slight to look at her. "Nah. No point in doing that if we may have to leave in a bit," he answered. And with that he walked up the stairs.

"Well, you heard him. Let's go look this place over," Kohta said as he hefted his machine gun off his shoulder. He gripped it a bit tightly as he held it in preparation to fire should he encounter anything inhuman or without a pulse.

"I'll go with you," Lady said, hefting the Kalina Ann a bit as its weight had shifted earlier when she came in.

Kohta nodded and the two walked off to the kitchen and the rooms around it. Dante, Shizuka, Alice and Zeke, Rei, and Saeko were now left in the living room.

"Should we help too?" Shizuka asked as she looked to the others there.

"Not really," Rei answered, "Takashi's house isn't that big so it shouldn't take them long to look it over."

"Well, I know I'm looking over something," Dante suddenly cut in with a lecherous grin. At the girl's questioning looks, he pointed to Rei's butt and she immediately turned around so that he couldn't see any more, getting a chuckle out of Dante. She had forgotten about her torn skirt and now she was paying the price for forgetting that now.

"You perv," she muttered angrily.

Dante held up his hands. "Hey, chill there. You don't have to worry about me trying anything. I was just messing with you. After all, why would I hit on jailbait?"

Rei twitched, but didn't say anything. "I'm going to go and see if I can borrow something from Takashi to wear," she said and made her way over to the stairs, her hands covering her rear as she went.

"I should join her too. I need a new shirt," Saeko commented, slightly surprising the others as she had been silent for quite a while now. But they didn't get a chance to comment on that as Saeko went after Rei up the stairs.

Dante, Shizuka, Alice and Zeke were silent, listening to the light thuds of Rei's and Saeko's footsteps on the stairs. It wasn't until the footsteps completely faded that they talked again.

"Well, they sure looked tense," Dante said, "probably because they're worried for Takashi's parents too."

"Can't say I blame them, Dante-san. They do like Komuro-kun a lot," Shizuka said with a smile.

Alice nodded at what Shizuka said. "Yeah, the onee-chans really do like Takashi onii-chan a lot!" she nearly exclaimed, getting an agreement bark from Zeke.

Dante laughed lightly at the young girl and did something rather uncharacteristic of himself: he patted her on the head. "Yeah, you're right kiddo. And teasing them about this kind of thing is going to be very fun."

At that moment, Kohta and Lady came back from scouting the other rooms. The instant Dante had heard them walk back into the living room, he immediately retracted his hand from Alice's head. However, while he did this fast enough for Kohta not to notice, Lady was able to see it.

"Ah shit," he thought as a smirk slowly crept onto Lady's face. "Well, the rest of the house is clear. Not only that, but it's also untouched for the most part. I guess Takashi's parents got out of here the second things started going bad outside and so the demons and Them never had a reason to search inside."

"So then the damage done to the outside of the house is the only damage?" Dante asked, hoping that Lady wouldn't comment on his unusually soft moment just now.

"Yeah, looks like it," Lady answered. She didn't say anything else for a few seconds after that and Dante thought that maybe she wouldn't say anything, but he had no such luck. "I don't think I've ever seen you looking that nice, Dante. I knew you missed Patty a lot, but I didn't know that you would resort to finding another kid to hair ruffle in her place."

Dante twitched. "Hey, that's not true."

Lady snickered. "Sure. Whatever you say." She always found it fun to poke fun at Dante. It just never got old.

While that was going on, Takashi had just finished searching his room and the other rooms upstairs. There was really nothing of any value to the group that he could find. Granted, he found that his room was fine save for the missing portion of the wall that he had seen from the outside. Other than that everything appeared intact, which had rather relieved him.

But now he was standing in his parents' room. Just like with his room, it wasn't damaged save for the spider web cracks from outside that had been deep enough to be also appear inside the room. Takashi ignored the cracks though and moved forward to the nightstand next to the bed. He frowned when he noticed that the picture frame they usually had wasn't there. "Must have took it with them," Takashi reasoned as he remembered that the picture in question was one taken after Takashi was born, him being held in the arms of his mother while his father stood right next to her.

"Takashi?" Takashi turned around and saw Rei and Saeko at the door to the room. Rei wore some old jeans of his in placement of her torn skirt while Saeko had on a long sleeve black shirt to replace her equally ruined school blouse.

"You alright, Komuro-kun?" Saeko asked.

Takashi looked the room over again. "Yeah, I'm good." He turned around and headed past the girls and started to make his way down the stairs. Rei and Saeko followed after him a few seconds later.

Once back downstairs, they saw the rest of the group getting rather comfortable on the couches in the living room. "You have really soft couches, Takashi nii-chan!" Alice said. Zeke barked in agreement as he lied next to Alice on the couch, wagging his tail in contentment.

He chuckled at her words. "Thanks for the compliment." Takashi then faced the others. "So I take it we're going to be staying here for the night?" he asked.

The others looked surprised. "Are you sure? I mean, we would understand if you don't want to be here," Saeko said as she moved from behind him to a standing spot by one of the couches.

"No, it's fine. Judging from the lack of stuff I found in my parents' room, they must have gotten out of here some time ago. Looked like they didn't leave until recently too if the look and feel of the room is anything to go by."

"So we probably just missed them," Kohta said.

"Seems that way. Knowing my parents the way I do, my dad would refuse to leave unless things really looked like shit was going to hit the fan hard. Until then, he'd stay and defend himself, mom, and this house with everything he's got. And my mom is pretty much the same as him when it comes to that. That and she was probably waiting for me to come home the whole time," Takashi explained, saying that last part with a small amount of nostalgia as he remembered how his mom would always be looking out for him as a kid to keep him from doing anything too dangerous.

The group was silent for a bit before Lady spoke up. "I see. Well, if that's fine with you then we should rest up for the night and get a move on again in the morning," she said.

Takashi nodded. "Right."

"And just where exactly are we all going to sleep?" Saya asked, speaking up for the first time in a while.

Takashi was stumped at that. "Uhhhhh…"

Meanwhile, the undead Shidou and his fellow Blitz-like zombies were walking slowly down the street that the mall was on. The reason behind their very slow progress from where they once were was due to them being distracted by noise being created by other zombies. They had attacked Them without mercy, splattering their degenerate bodies all across the ground. One of the Blitz-like zombies had nearly slipped on all of the blood and guts spilled by Them.

They stumbled along the road, no noise as of now to distract them from marching on save for their own groans. Shidou was still the one at the front of the group, his steps heavy due to the extra weight that his new Blitz appendages added.

As expected of them, they completely ignored everything else around them as they went on. Until they finally reached a corner and heard the all too familiar sound of Assaults growling close by. The Blitz-like zombies rounded the corner and almost literally came face to face with four Assaults that had come from the other street.

Upon seeing the demonified zombies, the Assaults let out their signature ear popping roar as they began to tense up for a bloody battle. At the sound of their roars, the demonified zombies immediately began to move differently, some of them taking on a crouching stance that a Blitz would sometimes take. The rest spread their arms apart and their groans gave way to deep growls that only a Blitz would be capable. Unlike their normal undead brethren who were always in a sluggish state even when attacking others, these demonified zombies were quick to move from stumbling to battle ready and were as tense as the Assaults.

Shidou took a few steps forward. The other Blitz-like zombies stayed put and so did the Assaults, though they did raise their shield arms in anticipation of incoming attacks. An Assault let out another roar and with that Shidou threw himself at it, the other demonified zombies following his lead. Though Shidou and the demonified zombies didn't know it, they had just gotten very involved in the recent beginning of a war between zombies and demons.

And that's a rap!

Phew, this took me a bit more effort than I thought! Probably because I was having trouble wondering how to play out the whole house thing.

Anyways, as you can clearly tell, no action this time around. I decided that I had put the group through enough action for now and so this chapter is basically just a filler of sorts, a reprieve to let them rest and to also slightly build up to what happens next. Now I have transitioned away from the mall completely, I'll be moving onto the next and final 'arc' of this fic, which would be the escalating violence going on between the undead and the increasing number of demons. Oh boy, I'm gonna have fun writing this out…

Thank you again everyone for reading and please be sure to drop a review!


	20. Chapter 20

Yo guys! Hope you all have been doing well. I kinda have been, and I say this due to a bunch of writing assignments I've had to do recently. As easy as they were, doing them was time consuming and thus was a major pain in my ass. Sure hope the workload dies down over time.

Anyways, let's get onto the chapter!

Chapter 20

Takashi tried to repress a yawn as he got up. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he slowly got out of his bed and, making sure not to accidently nudge Kohta awake, made his way out of his room. "Damn, can't sleep," he muttered to himself as he began to make his way down the stairs once getting there.

Yesterday, he and the others came up with sleeping arrangement of sorts, Shizuka and Alice taking his parents' room alongside Rei, Saeko, and Saya. At first, Takashi had offered his room to the latter three girls, out of concern that his parents' room wasn't big enough for the five girls, but he was proven wrong when they moved aside some of the stuff in there to make room for themselves. This left his room to himself and Kohta, Takashi naturally taking his bed while Kohta received a nice sleeping bag that Takashi happened to have in his closet for trips. Dante and Lady had opted to sleep on the couches downstairs, Zeke choosing to stay there too. But before they all decided to catch up on much needed rest, they made sure to stick the front door back on its hinges and place some of the more unnecessary furniture like small chairs and bedside tables in front of it to keep the door from falling while also serving as a barricade of sorts. Dante and Lady also chose to take turns sleeping so that one could always watch over said barricade.

When Takashi made his way downstairs, he had thought that both would have decided at one point to call it a night and fall asleep, but they were still sticking to their decision. As he entered the living room, he saw Lady wide awake on her couch, looking straight at the barricaded door.

"Hey," she said as Takashi approached.

"Hey there yourself. Are you feeling tired?" Takashi said.

Lady shook her head. "Not at all. Dante and I are used to this sort of thing."

Takashi looked over to the devil hunter in question and saw that he was dead asleep on the couch, his light snores evident of his. "He's a lot quieter than I thought he would be," Takashi noted aloud, having thought that Dante would snore loud enough to keep them all up.

Lady tried not to laugh, but failed slightly in this as a chuckle escaped her. "He has his quiet moments from time to time."

Takashi took a seat on a chair that wasn't placed as part of the barricade. "Anything?" he asked, referring to whether or not someone or something had passed by the house.

Lady grew quiet for a brief second, slightly fiddling with the Kalina Ann, which was leaning up against her. "No. Not a single sound."

Takashi raised an eyebrow. "Nothing at all? Even at this early time?" he asked as he noted that from the little light that shone through the door that it was barely dawn.

"Nothing," Lady confirmed.

They were silent for a moment, listening to Dante's snoring briefly in the process. "I take it that that's a bad thing," Takashi said.

Lady sighed. "Could be. It could be."

"Why do you think that is?" Takashi asked.

Lady pondered that for a moment. "Can't say for certain. Maybe all of the zombies in the area are heading towards the inner city along with the demons. Either that or they're finally killing each other off enough to make a difference. Though given our luck, I wouldn't be too hopeful about the latter."

Takashi sighed and nodded. "I guess."

They stayed silent for a few more minutes, once more listening to Dante's snoring. "Where exactly are we going next?" Lady asked the young teen.

Takashi scratched his head. "Don't know really. Not that many places to go now with the demons and Them going around. Though we could always try finding some sort of seaport."

Now it was Lady's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You mean to leave Japan?"

Takashi tried to think of how to word his next thoughts, but before the words could come to mind, someone else chose that moment to butt into the conversation. "You're hoping to find your parents and others leaving too, huh?" Dante said.

His sudden words nearly made Takashi jump out of his seat. "When did you wake up?" he asked, startled.

Dante cracked his neck as he let out a yawn. "I've been awake for a few minutes now."

"You were pretending to be asleep," Lady stated, not even remotely taken by surprise.

Takashi looked at Dante. "You were faking?" Then he turned to Lady. "You knew too?"

"Work with him long enough and you get to know how he works," Lady answered as she looked at the devil hunter in question. She focused her attention back on Takashi a second later. "Anyways, I take it you're going to ask the others about this idea when they wake up?"

Takashi nodded. "Wouldn't be much of a group if we didn't decide together on things."

Dante stifled a yawn. "Yeah, yeah, democracy is the way and all," he said sarcastically. "You wouldn't happen to have anything to eat though; I'm starving."

Takashi placed a hand under his chin, assuming the "thinker" pose. "Yeah, there's plenty of food. Come to think of it, what the hell are we gonna do for breakfast? I'm not that good a cook."

Dante rolled his eyes. "You can't be so bad that you can mess up scrambled eggs. Not that I plan to eat that stuff. Nah, I'm looking forward to some pizza," Dante said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation of that.

Lady now rolled her eyes. Takashi just looked at Dante as if he just grew a second head or something. "Pizza? Are you serious?"

"Of course I am. It's pizza after all," Dante replied.

Takashi was silent for a moment before speaking again. "But I don't have any pizza."

Dante, who had looked to be in a good mood not even a second ago, now looked as if it truly was the end of the world, a look that Lady and Takashi found to be rather ironic seeing given the current state the world was in. "N-No pizza?" Dante asked, a question to which Takashi shook his head. "What about the ingredients to make strawberry sundaes?"

Takashi raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't bother asking about it. "I think I do."

At that, Dante looked a little happy. But Takashi resumed a thinking posture again. "On second thought, my mom did use up the last of the strawberries a week ago."

Dante's shoulders slumped. "Fuck!"

Takashi just looked at him, wondering what was up while Lady snickered. "What's with him?" Takashi asked.

"Ah nothing, nothing. He's just mourning the loss of his everyday meal," she answered.

"What's going on?" Takashi and Lady looked up the stairs to see Kohta coming down, said boy rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. After doing so and putting his glasses on, Kohta looked at the two of them before sparing a glance to the now slightly gloomy Dante standing away from them. "What's with him?"

As this went on, somewhere else, there were a group of people moving as quietly as possible through the streets, using anything as big as themselves as cover. "How much further?" someone, a man in his twenties asked the person in front of him, a guy around his age, give or take a few years.

"Not much further. We're almost there," the leader replied. He had been leading the small group of people towards the suburban area. The reason behind this was because they had originally been trying to find other people and get out of Japan via a boat or something, but not long after trying this, they had the very bad luck of stumbling into a fight between Them and the demons. Several members of their group had been horrifically killed and the now current leader, who wasn't leader at the time, took charge and led everyone else away from the fight as quickly as he can for he was the only one to be able to stay calm enough to direct them.

He held up a hand, signaling everyone to stop. The people crouched as low as they could behind whatever they could find, many keeping a very panicky look out for anyone or anything that may come their way.

"What is it?" someone else, a middle-aged woman, asked.

The leader didn't answer at first, focusing instead on the surrounding environment. "Thought I head something."

His words made the still nervous group grow slightly panicky. "Oh god, we're dead!" one of them cried. As soon as the words left the person's mouth, someone else quickly clamped a hand over the mouth to keep said person from speaking anymore.

"Keep quiet, you dumbass! Are you trying to get us killed?" the man who covered up the person's mouth said.

"Calm down," the leader said in as low a voice as possible while still trying to make sure everyone heard him. The group was in too much of a panic now to listen, so it took him repeating his words several times, rising slightly in volume to get the desired effect.

"Shit, just stay calm and maybe we can make it to a house still standing and get in," the leader said, grateful that the group is now quiet again, albeit greatly annoyed at how they got so scared. Granted, he knew why and couldn't blame; he was feeling very terrified himself, but he couldn't help but wonder if they would ever learn to keep relative control of themselves. If they come out of this alive anyway.

"Sorry," one of them muttered.

The leader sighed. "Forget it. Let's just keep moving. Remember to stay low and next to the walls to duck for cover. And try to keep up at a decent pace."

The group took his words to heart, making sure to stay in a crouching position at all times as they began to move down the street. If there was one piece of information that they have calmly processed, it was that demons weren't too bright, focusing on what caught their eyes and while they have made it a habit of late to ransack buildings in search of people, demons didn't bother to do things like checking underneath things.

The group moved on, making a turn at the next corner they came to. On the next street, they didn't bother with crouching for there was very little to duck under if came to that, many buildings looking like a war past through them. In a sense, this was true was bodies of Them, both normal and demonified, littered the street. This did little for the group's nerves for now they worried if the zombies were somehow smart enough to play dead for good. It wasn't as if they had a way of finding out if this was true or not either.

"Looks like the demons are winning," the leader remarked, noting the distinct lack of demon bodies, though there was plenty of blood and what he guessed were their inards splattered all across the area. He just hoped that the demons had decided to move on deeper into the city rather than sit around in the shadows in case people came circling back. Just like the group was doing now.

Several moments past by and eventually, the group got to the beginning of a suburban area. "Thank god!" one of them said. The group began to feel their fear slowly being replaced with a sense of joy that they can hopefully find a shelter that will last them for a while.

The leader smiled, glad that they were so close now. "Alright people, all we have to do now is just find a house still standing strong and get in." The people seemed pretty eager to get this little task done and they began to walk towards the nearest block of houses when they heard a primal roar.

The blood from their faces drained completely, making them look as pale as Them. One of the group spared a glance back down the street they came to see an Assault round a near corner. It looked off in the direction opposite from them very briefly before sniffing at the air. Not even a second after this action did the Assault turn in their direction. At the sight of the group, it growled momentarily.

That was when the group made a run for it. Several members of the group screamed, caution be damned in their minds for all that mattered now was just getting away from the Assault. The leader of the group yelled for them to stay together as they took off, him remaining at the forefront of the group to lead them to the nearest house.

The Assault wasn't about to let that happen. It took aim at the closest person it could see and fired off its signature seed-like projectile at the unfortunate person. The projectile flew at the intended target at a speed none of them could hope to match in any way and the person cried out in pain only for it to be gargled out as blood spew out from the mouth as the projectile punctured a cannonball sized hole in his chest.

People screamed louder as the body then dropped haplessly to the ground. The Assault then let out a deafening roar, alerting any nearby demons of the prey it had found before charging off after the group. Shooting another projectile, the Assault watched as its attack got two for the price of one as it past in between – and partially through – two people running shoulder to shoulder with one another. Their arms that were hit fell down, nothing attaching them to the sockets anymore. The people screamed out at the blinding pain they now felt, but unlike most who would drop in this kind of situation, the two kept on trying to run. This proved to be increasingly hard for them as not only did they lose one of their arms, but a small portion of their sides were gone as well, leaving much room for blood to flow out and this was quickly taking its toll on them.

Seconds later, the two had lost far too much blood too quickly to keep it up and they fell too. One tried to get back up despite the situation she was in, but she didn't get too much of a chance for this as the Assault, moving at high speeds, stomped all over her in its path to the rest of the group. The Assault ignored the blood and small pieces of flesh that it clawed feet had cut off from the now dead woman and kept on going, letting out another roar.

The group, still a ways ahead of the Assault, but knew that it this wouldn't be for long, tried to run faster, some whimpering in fear. "Don't look back!" the leader of them said. "Just keep moving!" he said in as brave and steady a voice as he can muster. He knew that they most likely would die, but he didn't want to go down so easily. He felt that if they can get to a house in time, they could find a way to stall the demon, make it lose interest, or maybe even find something to kill it or at least knock it out.

With this thought in mind, the leader tried to run even faster, leading the group down the block and turning left at the nearest corner. Leading them onto the street that would eventually meet with the street Takashi lived on.

* * *

And cut!

Well then, this chapter actually proved to be quite difficult to write. Kinda had a hard time figuring out how exactly to proceed near the end. Which is saying something too considering how short this chapter turned out to be compared to the last few.

And speaking of short, I am so sorry that this isn't longer guys. I really wanted to end this chapter on a better note or something, but my mind couldn't come up with anything for that and so I had to end things here. Granted, this chapter is a bit of a reprieve chapter as well, just like the last one, but still.

Also, I thought I should tell you guys now that before you mistake this new group of people as possible OCs, they are NOT. As much as I like OCs (sometimes), I just can't bring myself to put any in this fic (and boy do I have a few interesting – at least I think so – OCs that would be fun to write. Too bad they are for original stories I do for something else. That and they were quite overpowered for the most part). So this group are merely side characters of sorts. Very brief side characters, which you will see why next chapter.

Yeah and maybe from now on, I'll be putting in these horitzontal bars to separate this from the story itself. Makes things so much easier on you guys and myself in the long. Sorry for not doing something like this earlier.

Anyways, I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter and please be sure to review!


	21. Chapter 21

Yo guys, hope you all have been doing well. I have and I'm thankful for that now. Had the worst. Headache. EVER. Just some time ago and I'm so glad that it's gone. It really took the energy out of me to deal with and the fact that it occurred during a somewhat difficult class week for me (well difficult in part to an in-class essay I had to do that took some serious thought) made it hard for me to even think of what to do for this chapter. But that's now in the past. Then again, I have a bunch of essay to look forward to in the near future….

Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 21

The others had gotten up not too long after Kohta did and now they were all downstairs, raiding Takashi's kitchen for anything to eat for breakfast. Takashi had stated that he could whip up some scrambled eggs since the stove didn't run on electricity and Kohta, Lady, and Alice agreed to this. The other girls though refused, going for some simple toast that Takashi managed to grill without burning and some milk that was still cold, a welcome surprise given that the power in all of the neighborhood appeared to be out. Dante, slightly grumbling still over the loss of his usual meal, settled for a bit of both scrambled eggs and a small slice of toast.

"Cheer up Dante. I'm sure you can make it through a day without pizza for once," Lady said as she took a bite of her eggs.

Dante sighed. "Yeah, yeah."

The others couldn't help but snicker slightly at Dante's situation. They never would have expected someone as strong as him to get down over being unable to eat his favorite food. And Kohta and the girls were as surprised as Takashi was when they found out just moments ago that Dante had wanted pizza of all things for breakfast.

The next few minutes were spent in relative silence as they all went about eating, the only sounds being their forks hitting the plates slightly as the poked away for small bites. That and Alice would slice off small bits of toast to give to Zeke, who would bark most joyously each and every time before chomping away at the food bits.

"Where to next, Komuro-kun?" Saeko asked the devil teen.

"I was thinking that it's time we might as well start leaving Japan altogether. Demons and Them sure have been swarming around lately and it's only a matter of time until they cover every yard of the whole country," Takashi said after a minute, slightly anxious to hear what the group will say to that.

He looked up from his plate at them. He first swept his eyes over Saeko, noting that she had a seemingly expressionless look about her, clearly thinking hard about what he just said. Looking over at Kohta, Takashi could tell that the gun otaku was in the same position as Saeko. Rei had a look of grudging understanding about her, Takashi being able to clearly tell that while she didn't want to leave, she understood the necessity behind this course of action. Saya had her usual glare face on, but it wasn't aimed at anyone in particular for she was merely deep in thought too. Alice on the other hand, was Saya's opposite in this situation; whereas Saya seemed almost stoic, Alice was expressing quite a bit of emotion, a look of complete nervousness about her. She knew that if they did agree to this, they'd be taking a risk getting off Japan given how many demons and zombies are roaming the streets and she didn't want to lose anyone. Shizuka, having an idea of what the little girl was thinking, moved her chair closer to Alice and gave her a light hug. Even Zeke was able to sense Alice's mood and so jumped into her lap.

The only ones that weren't deep in thought was Dante and Lady, the former being more focused on finishing his breakfast. The latter however, had her attention elsewhere. When Takashi had announced his intention to the group, Lady focused her attention on listening to any noise outside. And just now, she could have sworn that she just heard something.

At the now serious expression on Lady's face, the group fell silent, their eating of breakfast slowing considerably as Lady got up from her chair and moved towards a window nearby. It was covered by the blinds, but Lady brushed them aside slowly to look outside.

It still sort of dark outside due to how early it was, but the sun was rising a bit so Lady wasn't going to complain too much about visibility. "Something wrong?" Saya asked as she rose from her seat.

Lady didn't answer right away, peering out the window instead. "Heard something," she replied.

They fell silent at this and Dante and Takashi moved forward to get a look too. As they did, Lady's eyes narrowed as she heard something in that moment. Dante and Takashi heard it too.

"Shit," Takashi muttered, "something really is up."

Takashi then chose to make his way to the barricaded door and started to remove some of the furniture so that he can get outside to further inspect what the source of the sound was. The fact that this same sound was being repeated and he can hear it better only served to motivate him as it became clear that it was human in nature.

As he did this, Lady hefted her Kalina Ann and Saeko got up from her seat as well, her hand now gripping the hilt of her sword. The others stayed seated, but looked apprehensive. Dante was an exception to this, going back to eating his breakfast as casually as he was before, though if one observed him carefully, it was obvious that he was ready for a good fight.

"There we go," Takashi said to himself as he removed enough of the furniture to open the door, mindful of it not really being attached to the hinges anymore. He moved it carefully to his right and walked out once setting it against the wall.

Takashi walked down the path to his house and made his way to the street, his senses sharp as he tensed for a fight, unconsciously summoning Gilgamesh. He was right in doing so for as soon as he got to the street and began to walk to his right, he was rewarded with a sight that he has never seen before and most likely will never forget: a man, bloodied and heavily wounded beyond imagination crawling down the street towards him.

"Holy…" Takashi began, but trailed off. He brought up his left arm up to his mouth to cover it, unable to bear the sight. The man was covered in multiple claw marks that were so severe in nature that it made bear attacks look like love taps. Small pieces of his flesh were completely gone, exposing bone in the shoulder area, at least the bone that was still there.

It took all of Takashi's willpower to keep himself from puking; he had seen many things since this whole zombie outbreak started and seen even more when demons started showing up, but he has never before come across the handiwork of what had to be a demon getting its claws into a human.

The crawling man groaned, spitting whatever blood was left in his body out as he moved ever closer to Takashi. Takashi snapped out of his funk and began to quickly walk towards the down person, noting the rather long blood trail the guy was leaving. "He crawled all the way from around the corner," Takashi thought, amazed at this man's determination to get away from whatever attacked him despite his wounds.

The man raised his head as much as he could at the sound of Takashi's approaching footsteps. He groaned out a what Takashi assumed to be a cry for help and Takashi needed no further encouragement to try and do so. But as he bent down to the guy, he knew that the guy's chances of living were nil at this point.

No sooner had this thought crossed his mind, the man seemed to gasp, letting out his final breath before finally succumbing to his grievous injuries. His head hit the ground with a light thud, but to Takashi it sounded as though someone dropped a bomb. He had seen people die at his school, but he had seen them die from a distance, never up close and definitely not when he was literally standing right in front of them.

Takashi stood back up, trying to comprehend what he had just seen, but didn't get much of a chance for at that moment, an Assault, the same one that haunted down the man most likely, came rounding around the corner of the street. It spotted Takashi and growled as it charged down the street at him.

The teen listened briefly to any and all other noises that he could hear, trying to determine if there were more demons or if this Assault was just the only one to worry about. When it seemed that the charging demon was the only threat in the area, Takashi went from looking confused and sad at the man's death to burning with a rage that he had never felt before. He had just witnessed a man die, a guy that seemed to have crawled a very long way from somewhere all the way here just to find help of some kind and when Takashi had come along, it was far too late to do anything. And something about that angered Takashi greatly.

He focused his attention on the Assault and briefly recalled how hard a time he had just holding his own against one not long after leaving Saya's place. He flexed his gauntlet covered hands and instinctively knew that things were going to be different this time. "Come on!" he cried out to the Assault. The Assault responded with a roar. And then it came within several feet of Takashi and attacked.

Takashi had expected it to try and leap at him or go for some kind of vicious swipe, but the Assault surprised him by launching its signature seed-like projectile right at him. Takashi, rather than block the incoming object, sidestepped to the left while moving forward a bit in order to further shorten the distance between him and the demon. He raised his fist to attack, but the Assault had took the very brief split second it took for Takashi to move out of his projectile's way to get in close and actually try to grab the teen.

Takashi raised both of his arms to keep the Assault from enclosing its massive arms around him and he headbutted it to get away. The Assault let out a brief cry of surprise and moved back a step or two, enough for Takashi to attack now. Takashi took one step forward before letting loose a right straight at the demon. The Assault recovered fast enough for it to raise its shield arm a bit, but not enough to actually block the hit completely as Takashi's fist clipped the side of the shield only to move past it and connect with the Assault's chest. The blow, enhanced by the power of Gilgamesh, was strong enough to knock the air right out of the Assault and make it skid several yards back.

It began to recover as quickly as possible from the powerful punch, but Takashi wasn't willing to let that happen and so he jumped several feet into the air and once he was above the Assault, he brought down a leg in a wicked axe kick. The Assault leapt back just in time to avoid the incoming leg, if only barely, and it crouched low and thrusted out its arm at Takashi who was now wide open. Takashi gritted his teeth as he tried to do something to avoid or at least block what was coming, but his axe kick had been a wide one and so his current position didn't exactly afford him much balance, forcing Takashi to instinctively try to regain it. But this had left him defenseless for a second and that was more than enough time for the Assault's arm to slam right into him.

The teen coughed up whatever air he had in him due to the force of the hit and he fell onto his back. The Assault then took this as a chance to perform its own midair attack, jumping not too high into the air as it didn't want to give Takashi much time to do anything. Said teen was just barely able to bring up his arms in time to guard against the now incoming Assault, although the force of its intended jump attack still managed to hurt Takashi a bit.

Takashi pushed back against the Assault and it jumped off of him and as soon as it did, Takashi quickly jumped back on his feet and lunged for the demon, charging up his gauntlet covered fist. This time around, the Assault had enough time to raise its shield arm before the attack landed. Takashi knew this, but just gritted his teeth and tried to charge up his gauntlet even more right before the punch he just threw landed. In the instant before his fist struck the shield, it glowed twice very briefly, signifying that it had achieved a greater charge than before and this showed in the punch for when it connected with the shield, the shield first began to be dented slightly before it suddenly shattered. This took both Takashi and the Assault by surprise for neither expected the punch to be that strong and so they were both caught off guard by the resulting force of it, the Assault being knocked back a considerable distance while Takashi tumbled forward.

He cursed in surprise, trying to regain his footing while the demon struggled a bit to get back up; the punch had hit it square in its broad chest hard enough to leave a big bruise and the damage it inflicted was certainly nothing to shrug off. And this slightly slow recovery proved to be the Assault's undoing in that moment for Takashi, after getting his footing back, ran at the still down demon and came in low with a charged punch that connected solidly with the Assault's jaw. A crack was heard from this, but Takashi didn't pay too much attention to it and instead sat upon the Assault's torso and began to quickly pummel the demon's face in, in a manner similar to what he did to Dante when they fought.

Takashi didn't bother to charge his Gilgamesh fists anymore as it was near impossible to do so at such speeds, but despite this his assault was quite punishing, his fists bashing in the demon's face rapidly. The Assault offered up some resistance at first, its massive arms reaching out to knock Takashi aside or grab him, but every time it tried, Takashi would break away from his punches for a split second to swat the arms aside and then resume pounding the Assault. The demon tried a few more times at this, but several seconds later it stopped trying. A few seconds after that, it just stopped moving entirely.

Takashi was breathing heavily, partially because he was a bit tired and partially because of some kind of adrenaline rush that overcame him when he start pounding away. Standing up slowly, he looked down at his fists and saw almost the entirety of the Gilgamesh gauntlets drenched in the Assault's yellowish green blood. Sparing a glance at the now dead demon, Takashi noted that there really wasn't much of a head anymore save for some bone and bits of flesh that weren't mashed under his fists. He also noted large spider web cracks extending outwards from the large crater underneath the Assault's broken body, the result of Takashi's almost feral attacks.

"Man," Takashi mumbled as he dismissed Gilgamesh, the blood on the gauntlets sliding off before they disappeared. Running a hand through his hair, Takashi made his way back down the street to his house, pausing briefly in front of the dead man from earlier.

"Komuro-kun?" Takashi looked up to the pathway to his house and saw Saeko and Lady standing there. The others were still inside as they felt that the two would be able to help Takashi with whatever had come up.

Takashi didn't respond to Saeko, instead looking back at the corpse before him. Saeko and Lady approached him. "Takashi? Hey, Takashi," Lady said, trying to get his attention.

After a minute or so, Takashi responded. "Yeah?"

Lady hesitated for a few seconds, thinking of what to say. "What do we do now?" she asked, deciding to just get straight to the point. If one demon made it out here despite apparently coming from the city, then what was to say that more wouldn't?

Takashi looked Lady dead in the eyes and then back at the body. "First, we're going to bury this guy."

Saeko and Lady spared a glance at the body in question, Saeko being revolted by how mangled it was although she tried to hide it. Lady was disgusted by how the demon tore the man apart too, but it wasn't as great as Saeko's disgust; she and Dante were used to this sort of thing after all.

"Alright," Saeko said, her and Lady nodding to Takashi's words. "And after we bury him?"

Takashi began to make his way up the house path. "After that, we're leaving. Not just the city, but the country too."

* * *

Whew, this chapter proved to be a bit hard to write at first. Probably because I didn't really know how to make it work the way I wanted. I could have tried a few more times, but it was taking me too long so I went with the better of the scenarios I tried. Hope you guys liked it.

Anyways, this will the last of the reprieve chapters as we will now be moving into the final phase/arc/event of this fic! And I can assure that it will be great (well, at least, that's what I plan anyway...)!

Chances are though the next chapter won't be out for quite a while though as my classes are beginning to roll out quite a few essays for me to do and that will take up a good portion of time to do. That and I will also have some tests to look forward to as well so that's more time I will be focusing on my classes. I will try to hopefully get another chapter or two out before my semester is over though.

Thanks for reading and please be sure to review!


	22. Chapter 22

Hey there guys, hope you're all doing well. Sorry for getting this out after so long, but I got busy with some essays and those certainly took a while. On the bright side, the current college semester is coming to an end and I will officially be done with my freshman year in college! On another note, I'm gonna have to find a job afterwards and I don't have the slightest clue how long that will take or how much time I will be spending away from writing…

Anyways, here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 22

The group spent a good bit of time burying the man that the Assault from earlier killed, Takashi being the one to gently lower the man's mangled body into a hole that Dante and Kohta dug in his backyard. None of them said anything for they really couldn't think of anything to really say, so they just settled for bowing their heads in silence for a moment. They all looked a little solemn throughout this process, even Dante.

After that however, they wasted no time in gathering up all of their stuff and getting some food from the fridge to take on their travel. "You got any bags?" Lady asked Takashi as she grabbed a small handful of snacks while Alice had helped her out with getting a few instant ramen she had seen.

Takashi nodded and went to go get the bags for the food, while Rei, Saeko, and Saya were making sure that they had some spare clothes on hand in case of another wardrobe malfunction, Rei and Saeko being the ones more worried on that matter. Shizuka, on suggestion from Dante and Lady, was looking around in some of the cabinets to see if there were any medical supplies that could be of use to them. Dante and Kohta merely focused on making sure that all of their guns were in working condition and fully loaded. Even Zeke was helping out a bit as Takashi handed him a bag and pointed him to Shizuka, the dog immediately making a bee-line towards the blonde with bag in mouth. Shizuka petted Zeke as she gratefully accepted the bag; while she may not have found anything meant specifically to treat wounds, she did find some supplies that would at least help with other things and began to fill the bag with them.

Takashi, after handing a bag or two to Lady and Alice, went towards Dante and Kohta. "Almost done?"

Kohta looked up at him briefly before focusing back on the machine gun in hand. "Yeah. Just finished checking out each piece of this baby. All that's left to do is just check how much ammo I have left for it." As soon as he said that, the gun otaku quickly pulled out the magazine that it currently had and smiled a bit in satisfaction. "A few bullets used up, but it shouldn't make too much of a difference as long as we don't run into too many of Them or demons."

Takashi nodded, feeling the same as Kohta. "That's good. And you Dante?" he said, the last part directed to the silver haired devil hunter.

Dante gave him a cocky grin. "Armed and ready," he replied as he finished checking Ebony and Ivory. He twirled them around in his hands before putting them away.

Everyone else then began to come into the living room, where Dante and Kohta had been checking the guns. "We're ready," Rei said as she hefted an old backpack of Takashi's, said item clearly stuffed full of clothes.

"Will we be okay carrying all of this?" Shizuka asked as she took note of just how much stuff they had.

"We'll be fine," Kohta answered, reaching behind the couch nearby and pulling out a large dark blue duffle bag. "I found this just a while ago. Figured it would come in handy."

He handed the bag over to Shizuka to put in the bag she had and then Lady and Alice stuffed in theirs as well, being careful to make sure that the bags didn't rip open or squash one another. After a moment, the bags were in and Kohta zipped up the duffle bag, then hoisting the strap over one of his shoulders. He nodded to Takashi, who nodded back.

"Alright. Now let's leave," he said.

He moved aside the blockade separating the door from them and then moved the door itself, walking outside right afterwards with the others following. He turned right, going in the direction where the man had come from and did his best not to spare a glance to the now dried blood left on the ground.

"Where exactly are we going, kid?" Dante asked as he suddenly came up next to him.

Takashi looked at him briefly if only to ensure he doesn't look at the dried blood as he now walked near it and past it. "Well, like I said, we're leaving the country. Nowhere is safe as we can all see so we just have to go to a seaport and get ourselves a boat."

Dante raised an eyebrow. "Alright, I get that. But do you know how to drive a boat? Because I'll tell ya right now that I don't and neither does Lady. And I'm betting the others don't know either."

Takashi shrugged. "I'll manage. If I can drive a damn motorcycle and a car without any real experience then I think I can handle a boat."

"We're gonna hold you to that," Lady said, her and the rest of the group now walking right behind Takashi and Dante.

"And please try not to crash the boat when we do get our hands on one," Saeko said in good humor, remembering how she, Saya, and Rei had witnessed his saving of Alice what felt like so long ago by crashing said vehicle through the house gate. Saeko also couldn't help but remember when Takashi also used the buggy to keep the zombies occupied by keeping it in a fountain.

Takashi had the decency to blush in embarrassment. "I'll keep that in mind."

They all then walked in quiet for a while as they followed Takashi down the streets, making a few turns along the way. They were still in the suburban area, but several minutes later, they were slowly beginning to exit this area and get into the actual city.

"Just where is the nearest port anyway?" Kotha asked suddenly, making the whole group come to a stop for a moment.

Takashi scratched the back of his head. "Well, I know where it's at, but I've never been able to memorize the street names to get there."

The group looked at him with slight worry in their eyes. "But you do remember how to get there?" Rei asked.

Takashi nodded. "Then that's all that matters right now," Rei muttered, Saya nodding her head in agreement.

Takashi sighed and began to lead them once again the way he remembers. However, once he walked a bit further, he stopped again. "Holy shit," he whispered.

The group stopped too and they too felt like repeating his words at the sight of all the blood and bodies littered across the streets. Limbs flung about, torsos blasted throw by something and more blood than any other time they've seen blood before.

Shizuka immediately covered Alice's eyes, but the little girl had already seen the sight before them and so it was pointless; she most likely wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.

"Definitely the work of demons," Dante said, walking towards the nearest, most relatively intact body and taking a good look at it.

Lady hefted the Kalina Ann. "We better get going. If the state the city is in right now is any indication, then there must a very, very large number of demons roaming around. Even with me and Dante around, there might be too many to handle."

The group looked around, trying to get their eyes off of the mutilated bodies, and took note of what Lady clearly saw. The surrounding buildings were in even more terrible states than the houses, large chunks of them missing, others collapsed and smoking. The ones still standing ranged from looking like they could stand for a while still while others looked ready to fall down as soon as someone touched them. It didn't really help soothe the group at the fact that some bodies also loitered the outside of some of these buildings. Some of the walls were even covered in now dried blood, though there were those nearby where the blood seemed rather fresh.

"Yeah, good point," Rei said dumbly, not really knowing what else to say at this point.

Takashi nodded his head in agreement. "Let's just keep moving. We could go through the alleys too if it comes to that."

He started walking, but Saya caught up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "And you're sure you know your way to the nearest seaport?" she asked, eyebrow raised in what could possibly be scrutiny.

"Yeah," was Takashi's reply.

Saya's eyebrow raised even further. "You sure? even if we go the back ways?"

Takashi sighed and shook Saya's hand off his shoulder. "Yes, I'm damn sure."

She looked him dead in the eyes as he answered back and a few seconds later she backed off, satisfied with his confidence in his words.

Takashi started walking again and so did the rest of the group. They all followed closely behind him, yet also kept a few feet apart from each other, that way should an attack of some kind come, they'll all have enough space to get out their weapons without bumping into one another. There was no noise save for their own relatively light footsteps and the debris that would sometimes fall from crumbling structures.

"Anyone else reminded of a certain video game series here?" Kohta said from out of the blue. "Seriously, the destroyed buildings, the blood, no one around save for us?"

Some of the group smiled to themselves, Dante actually chuckling as they realized what he was getting at. "Just be thankful we don't have some morphing monster after us," Takashi said.

They fell silent again as they moved on, eventually making their way across several city blocks, some turns made at certain streets. "We sure decided to prepare this time around," Saeko noted aloud.

Saya nodded. "We have to. After how things have turned out for us so far and the state of everything now, we have to keep our own food and supplies on hand."

Saeko spared a look around. No matter which street they were on, the look of everything still seemed to remain the same. That certainly didn't calm her. So far, there have been not so much as a single sign of human life nor any glimpse of a demon or Them. Have all the humans in the city been killed or turned into Them? And where did the demons go? These were merely some of the questions running through Saeko's mind right now. "This is truly bad. Just how far does all of this destruction extend?" she thought. Out loud though, she replied to Saya's words. "Makes sense, though we will have to find some place to rest if it's required down the line."

Lady hung back to walk near the girls. "That's true. But I wouldn't count on that if every building and home is like this," she said, gesturing to the buildings around, "and that's assuming we don't get to the seaport soon."

The girls nodded and fell silent while the guys up front started a bit of a conversation of their own. "Just how far is the seaport anyway?" Dante asked Takashi.

Takashi mulled over this without slowing down in his pace. "Well, since we're walking… maybe a few hours?"

"That's… actually closer than I expected," Kohta remarked, having thought it would be quite a distance away that would require them to rest for the night at least once.

"We will be putting the stuff in the duffle bag to good use though; it's not like we're gonna be out of danger once we get to a damn boat," Takashi said to him.

"As long as there ain't a damn zombie head in an ice chest aboard the boat, then I'm not gonna complain about how things go," Dante said while cracking his neck.

The boys nodded; they were far more prepared this time around than any other time as Saeko noted earlier and with good reason too. After all, is there really such a thing as being over prepared in situations like these?

The group walked in silence once again until they heard the unmistakable moan of a zombie around a nearby corner. They all froze, suddenly very careful in moving around, even Dante and Lady. They really weren't in the mood to be causing any noise and having to fight their way through God knows how many zombies. Not even Dante wanted to spend all day painting the city with Them.

The group walked slowly around the next corner, thinking for the briefest of seconds that they were safe, but that thought immediately went into the gutter of their minds as they looked down the street they just turned on. Many of Them, far more than they could count in a relatively quick manner, were loitering about, walking without purpose around the streets. Some bumped into walls, the slight noise drawing some more nearby to that spot.

"So many," Rei whispered, but the whole group heard it; they were just that silent.

"Far too many," Saya said next, biting her thumb as she thought. "We aren't going to be able to just walk past all of Them regardless of how quiet we are. We need a distraction of some kind."

Dante snickered, but it was rather quiet compared to how loud he usually snickered. "Leave that to me, kid." Without another word, the devil hunter walked quietly and quickly to the nearest building, what was left of it anyway.

Picking up a piece of debris that was roughly the size of a basketball, Dante turned and hurled it off past the group and down the street they were on just a moment ago, the debris flying in the direction they'd have gone in if the group had just headed straight rather than make the turn.

The piece of debris smashed right into a building, shattering upon impact into dozens of pieces. The smash and shattering of the debris caused quite the bit of noise, enough to draw the attention of a good portion of Them, who were somewhat close to the group's position and so began to stumble their way to the source of the noise.

The group remained absolutely motionless as the zombies groaned and stumbled past them, not even remotely twitching in their direction as their sole focus was on reaching where the noise came from. Dante smirked at the result he brought about and signaled for the group to come forward. They did so cautiously, one slow step at a time. The zombies ignored them as they moved to the side and made their way to Dante.

"That was unbelievably reckless," Saya growled out to Dante once she was close enough to do so without consequence. "What if they heard the swish your arm made when you threw it?"

Dante shrugged. "I'm not gonna focus on the what-ifs, kid. Just be glad that they're not swarming us right now."

Lady sighed. "I'm not complaining about the results, but just be more careful on how you bring them about."

Dante rolled his eyes and just started walking, the group following after him after several seconds. However, not even ten seconds later, they all froze at the sound of a roar. "Ah shit…." Dante muttered.

All around them, the zombies stopped in their tracks, this roar taking their attention away from the debris smash. Some of Them groaned, trying to pinpoint where it had come from. They didn't have to wait too long on that part for now the rapid scraping of a blade against the ground could now be heard. It was heading in the group's direction.

Sure enough, around the corner came a Mega Scarecrow, the massive demon chipping off a good portion of a crumbled building. The demon also ran over some zombies as well, indicated by the silencing of some groans and replacing it with squelching sounds as blood spurted out of the rotting bodies.

The rolling Mega Scarecrow came barreling at the group and Dante reacted to it on instinct, pulling out Rebellion and swinging it like a baseball bat at the oncoming demon. His blade met its blade and the force of his swing knocked it back down the street.

The Mega Scarecrow let out a shrill cry of pain as it skidded painfully across the ground. "Time to run," Kohta said.

"It's just one demon," Dante said confidently.

"And since did those fat things roar?" Lady countered to him, shooting the devil hunter a glare.

Dante didn't have a comeback for that. It was unnecessary as the sounds of leaping could be heard coming from the same direction the Mega Scarecrow came from. The group took several steps back, while Takashi and Lady tried to figure out what would happen next. "Where are they?" Takashi asked as the sounds and now growling sounded louder, closer, and still no sight of the demons.

Lady looked around before looking up and suddenly whipping out a pistol and firing off two shots, the bullets colliding with two seed-like projectiles. "Above!" she said and the whole group looked up to see that the Assaults were trying something different here: they were jumping across the rooftops.

"Oh… shit," Takashi muttered; he could see about seven Assaults and it sounded like more were coming.

Kohta took hold of his machine gun and held it, eyeing the demons warily. "We're more or less in the heart of the city. All the demons and Them must be wandering around here," he noted with a small hint of fear.

Dante held up Rebellion, looking ready to fight. Rei eased her spear/gun off her shoulder and held it in a defensive stance. Saeko also grabbed hold of her sword's hilt. Saya, Shizuka, Alice, and Zeke stayed back behind the others, but they all looked ready to grab something to use as a weapon if it came down to it.

"Looks like they really want to roll out the red carpet for us," Dante said, a small smile on his face despite the circumstances.

Lady put away her pistol and quickly shrugged the Kalina Ann off her shoulder and took hold of it. "Oh yeah? Well in that case, we're not just being invited to one party here." She pointed forward and he and Takashi looked.

The zombies weren't moving towards the debris anymore. They weren't standing around either; the zombies were beginning to slowly move around them, forming a big circle around the recovering Mega Scarecrow and the group.

But they were not the only ones surrounding them. Off in the distance, more roars of Assaults could be heard, blades scraping the ground and more. The demons heard the noise and were inviting themselves to the source.

As much as Dante liked a good fight sometimes, even he knew that going up against such numbers could be very bad. "Well… fuck," Dante said, for once unable to think of something to say.

"Time to run," Takashi said and took off in the direction they were originally heading in. The group followed. The zombies and demons followed too. The chase was on.

Off in the distance, the undead Shidou and his Blitz-zombies approached. After their battle with some Assaults earlier on, a battle that they won, the demonifed zombies wandered around a bit, homing in on anything that made some noise loud enough to catch their attention. Sometimes, this led into very brief battles with a few Scarecrows, the demonified zombies feasting a bit on whatever was left of the bodies afterwards. This continued eating of demons strengthened them. Although they did not take on any qualities from the Scarecrows, the flesh from them did allow for the Blitz parts of Them to strengthen, making the group stronger and faster. As of now, a single one of this Blitz-zombies would be able to take down an Assault by itself without suffering any wounds that would slow it down aftwards.

Shidou and his group had, by sheer coincidence, been relatively close to where the group was, being only several city blocks away. The roars of the Assaults caught their attention, their heads turning at frightening speeds towards where it came from.

The Blitz-zombie Shidou let out a growl, almost as if he was communicating with the other ones. They all then turned in the direction of all the noise and began to quickly make their way to the source of it.

* * *

And that is a rap! Wow, nearly three thousand and five hundred words yet it only took up about seven pages. Probably because I focused more on paragraphs this time around.

Anyways, guys sorry once again for getting this out so late; classes and all. And chances are once my finals are done, it'll be a while before I can post the next chapter. But I will try not to take too long, but no guarantees.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please don't forget to review!


	23. Chapter 23

Finally done with my freshman year of college! Hell yeah! Not bad, not bad at all. Makes me wonder how the next year will go for me. Of course, I'm going to have to get a job this summer… I just hope I can manage to get one without too much trouble; economy sure is tough these days.

Here's the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy!

P.S. THIS FIC IS REACHING ITS CONCLUSION! ONLY ABOUT TWO CHAPTERS LEFT!

Chapter 23

The group made a run for it down the street. Behind them, the growls of several Assaults could be heard alongside the scrapping sounds of the Scarecrows as well as the moans of the zombies. All followed the group with a vengeance, the only exception to this being Them as they were only attracted to the noise.

"Don't bother shooting, just keep running!" Takashi said as he looked behind him briefly and saw Kohta about to turn and take aim with his machine gun. Kohta hesitated briefly, but put the gun away and just kept running.

Dante and Lady were keeping pace with Takashi and kept a look out for the sides in case there were more demons or zombies nearby that wanted to try and blindside them all.

"Damn it, there's many of Them…" Rei said, upon seeing just how many zombies were coming at them alongside the demons.

While the sheer numbers of Them did freak her out a bit, it did calm her just a little to see that some of the zombies seemed to be hobbling after the demons instead, no doubt due to the sheer amount of noise they were generating. And the demons were moving way too fast for the zombies to catch too.

Saya and Saeko, who were running right next to her, took note of this too. "At least there is a chance the numbers will dwindle," Saeko said, hoping that perhaps some demons will be surrounded by Them and be taken down, taking a good handful of zombies with them too.

As soon as she said this, the closest three Assaults roared and put on a bit more speed and moving much more aggressively. At first, they had just been running and hopping over cars and other obstacles that got in their way, but now they was brutally smacking aside any zombies in their way, the blows so devastating that, combined with the fragileness of the zombies' deteriorating bodies, made for much blood spatter and bone fragments on the ground.

"Careful what you wish for," Saya muttered at this sight.

"Just run faster!" Kohta yelled and the group sped up, the Assaults catching up little by little. The only thing that was slowing the approaching demons down were the number of Them that they kept running into. If not for that, the Assaults would have at least been within firing range. The group, mainly Dante and Lady, knew this.

So the two devil hunters decided to try a little trick. "Don't worry. We'll slow them down just a bit," Lady said to them, her hands taking hold of Kalina Ann, but not taking it off her shoulder just yet.

Lady looked at Dante, who nodded in response. Suddenly, Dante put on an incredible burst of speed, running straight to an abandoned car that was just a bit down the road. As Dante very quickly approached the vehicle, he slid, going right underneath the car. As soon as he made it to the other side of the car, he flipped back over it in an impressive display of acrobatic prowess, hands outreached to grab it. Once his hands got a solid grip on the top part of the car, Dante picked it up as he went on with the flip and with a slight grunt, hurled the car at breakneck speeds towards to the demons and zombies. As it sailed overhead, Lady stopped and turned around, taking Kalina Ann off her back. She took aim with it and waited until the car slammed hard into the Assaults in front. The car knocked them back into a bunch of Scarecrows that had somehow managed to keep a decent pace with them and before they all fell on their backs, Lady shot a missile right at the now exposed chassis at bottom of the vehicle. The missile struck it, making the car explode spectacularly. This combined with the explosion produced by the missile itself actually killed the Assaults hit by the car and heavily damaged the Scarecrows near the explosion. Zombies were blown into pieces and bloody mist as a result of it as well.

"Whoa!" the group said as a whole. They never expected the devil hunting duo to something like that, but it was definitely appreciated; the Assaults that were following them from the rooftops actually seemed to pause, stunned at the sight of their fallen brethren while the unharmed Scarecrows that had blade arms were having a bit of a hard time trying to get past the mess that the explosion made.

Dante, having landed perfectly after throwing the car, started to run again in the direction they were heading. "Hey kids, hurry up!" This snapped them out of their shock and they picked up the pace, not wanting to wait around for anything to catch up.

"Wow, Dante-san, Lady-san, that was cool!" Alice said happily despite the current situation. Zeke barked in agreement as he ran energetically next to the young girl.

Dante chuckled. "Glad to hear that," he said with a grin. Even Lady seemed to be smiling a bit at the praise. After all, it wasn't very often that people would actually compliment them for their work; usually, they complain about the property damage that was done, mainly as a result of Dante.

"Where to, Takashi?" Lady asked, deciding to get her mind focused again on this mess.

Takashi looked off into the distance a bit before answering her. "At the next intersection, go right!" He said. The group nodded and they tried to run even faster, but even with the adrenaline pumping through their bodies, everyone save for Takashi, Dante, and Lady, were starting to get a little tired; the past few moments were catching up to them hard and fast.

Takashi noticed this and worried slightly, but tried to reassure himself that the dock wasn't that far from where they were. Once they made their turn, it was pretty much just a straight shot all the way down the road. Taking the alleyways would have shortened this journey even more, but he didn't want to risk getting them all boxed in.

Takashi snapped out of his thoughts as he and the group heard a loud boom. He turned his head to see a Mega Scarecrow rolling down the street right at them, moving far faster than the Assaults up above were due to the momentum it had. Judging from the slight damage it had, Takashi concluded it to be the same one Dante knocked down earlier and now it was coming after them with a vengeance.

"Ahhhh! It's catching up!" Shizuka cried out.

Dante swore a bit under his breath and was about to stop running and charge at the demon instead, but didn't get a chance to do so when Takashi suddenly spoke up. "Turn right!"

The group, having reached the intersection, made their turn as quickly as possible, just as the Mega Scarecrow had managed to catch up with them. However, the demon hadn't expected the group to make such a sudden turn and it ended up rolling right past them as it started to try and stop itself.

The group would have taken some relief in this narrow miss if it wasn't for the surprise that awaited them when they made it onto the new street. Not that far down the road were nearly ten demonified zombies. Half of them had Scarecrows bits, namely leg blades that allowed them to hop about at a considerably faster pace than normal zombies. But the others seemed to be much more muscular than normal zombies. They seemed reptilian, with narrow faces and some scales showing on the bare skin that was shown. These zombies seemed to have made a meal of an Assault or two.

The group froze. Not far behind them was the small, but growing army of demons and zombies and now it looked like the demonified zombies were getting in their way. Things truly were getting worse for them.

But they snapped out of this mindset quickly for every second that passed, the demons and zombies were getting closer. The Mega Scarecrow could be heard finally being able to stop itself and began to lumber its way to them, not wanting to try rolling at them and missing again.

"Just move past them!" Takashi said and took off.

The group took off right after him, Shizuka almost comically being surprised at their sudden sprint and began to run after them. She didn't have to worry about them getting too far ahead because their movements attracted the demonified zombies' attention and the Assault-like ones charged right at them with surprising speed.

One went straight for Kohta, who cursed as he quickly pulled out the machine gun and fired off a short burst at the zombie. Thanks to the scales, the zombie didn't take much damage, only some of the bullets managing to pierce through the skin. Kohta immediately noticed this and while it certainly surprised him it didn't stop him from ducking in time to avoid its sudden leap.

Unfortunately, this brought the demonified zombie to land right in the center of the group, immediately forcing them apart as to not be attacked. The zombie began to get back up and looked over to Rei and Saeko, the two closest to it, only for Saeko to smack it across the face with her sheathed sword, taking it off guard. While it was somewhat stunned, she quickly pulled out the blade and swung right at its now exposed neck.

But the blade struck against the scales, barely nicking them. Saeko's eyes widened and she backed away. Her swings didn't simply pack the kind of strength necessary to get through the scale. The demonified zombie then got up, but was put down by a considerable amount of gunfire from Kohta, shooting it in the back this time.

As this went down, Takashi had intercepted the other demonified one and was currently overpowering thanks to it not being near the strength level of an actual Assault. It helped that he had Gilgamesh out as well. The zombie had made a grab for him, but he held it back by holding its arms. Takashi grunted slightly as he then twisted the arms as hard as he could and was rewarded with them breaking. Scales fell off as the bone under the skin broke and stuck out. A dark blood that had a light green tint to it seeped out from the open wounds now.

The demonified zombie would have been in horrible pain from this if it had been a normal, living human, but it wasn't and so this incapacitation didn't stop it from rearing its head forward to try and get a bite out of Takashi. "Whoa!" Takashi cried out when its mouth came a bit too close for his comfort. He was finding out that its narrow, somewhat Assault-like face gave this zombie a bit more of a bite reach.

He brought up a knee into its stomach, making the zombie double over due to the strength of the hit and it also raised it a few inches into the air so that its feet were no longer touching the ground. With that, Takashi took advantage of its now lack of footing and hurled it as hard as he could away from him and the others.

But he wasn't expecting the demonified zombie to suddenly flip around in mid-flight and land on its feet. His eyes widened in shock as it then propelled itself with a powerful leap. Takashi tried to move aside, but his reaction was a little slow due to the sudden surprise and so the zombie's broken, yet still strong arms made contact with him, knocking them both to the ground.

As Takashi began to struggle with the zombie on the ground, Dante had moved forward to put down the Scarecrow-like zombies while Lady was shooting down any zombies that approached from where they had run from. Saya was also helping out as well, having pulled out the gun that her mom had given her from one of the supply bags, and with some pointers from Lady, she was able to get some decent shots against the normal zombies, but the approaching demons proved to be far more agile than what Saya's shaky aim could keep up with.

Rei was standing in front of Shizuka, Alice, and Zeke, serving as their protectors of sorts while Kohta unloaded a short burst of bullets into the downed demonified zombie's skull. After blood began to slowly seep out from the several holes in its head, he and Saeko took a step forward to make sure that it was indeed dead.

"We got him. We finally got him," Kohta said, confirming what Rei, Shizuka, and Alice had hoped to hear.

Apparently, Lady and Saya heard as well. "Great, then let's keep moving!" Saya yelled almost angrily. She and Lady immediately backed away from the encroaching demon and zombie crowd and while a decent number of Them and demons – the latter thanks to Lady – were dead, the crowd was still coming and the Assaults on the rooftop above had finally caught up as well. They were just waiting for a good opportunity to jump down and attack as the crowd proved to be taking up took much space for them to take advantage of the terrain.

They all bustled about, heading off to their destination. "Takashi, hurry!" Rei yelled.

Takashi didn't reply, instead checking to see if the demonified zombie was dead. After it had tackled him down, he had managed to throw it off him and started to slam its head against the ground, tearing off the arms this time before doing so. It took several tries, but eventually the skull did bust open and blood and another liquid Takashi didn't want to think about slowly flowed out. But he figured that if a demon could be terrifyingly tenacious when near death then so could a demonified zombie. Thankfully for him, it really was dead.

He caught up with the group as fast as he could, noting the Assaults above on the rooftops looking ready to pounce now. "Shit!" he yelled as sure enough, once the group made it to more open area of the street, the Assaults leapt from their perches.

Takashi brought himself to a sudden stop just in time for an Assault to land in the spot he would have been in had he kept running. He sucker punched the demon as it seemed to raise its head in surprise at missing him and the Assault stumbled back from the blow. The teen then looked up very briefly to see five more Assaults coming down from the rooftops, three landing near Dante and Lady while the other two were too close for comfort to Shizuka, Saya, Alice, and Zeke.

Knowing that Dante and Lady could easily take care of themselves, Takashi charged at the Assault nearest to the three girls and dog, intent on getting it in a grapple hold. However, the demon sensed him coming and swiftly side stepped the incoming teen. Takashi's eyes widened at the action for as a result of this dodge, he was heading straight for Shizuka. He tried to bring himself to a stop, but only managed to slow his sudden and powerful charge enough to give the busty woman a chance to get out of the way, which she did.

But the Assault took advantage of this situation and slashed viciously at Takashi's now exposed back. The teen cried out in pain as the demon's claws sunk in quite deep. Blood spewed out from the claw wounds before they quickly closed up, which really didn't do much for Takashi as he was still hunched over from the pain of the hit and so left himself open for another one. The Assault obliged this with an overhead smash, planning to sink its sharper-than-knives claws directly into Takashi's skull.

The person in question managed to see the attack coming and brought up his hands to grab the Assault's massive fist and succeeded in doing so, albeit barely, the claws being a little less than an inch from his face. He grunted a bit as he tried to push back the claws and managed to do so just a bit before the Assault decided to try for impaling him on its other arm. But in an amazing display of flexibility and acrobatics, Takashi sensed the attack coming and managed to twist his body around the other fist and flip over the demon without letting go of its claws. With another grunt, Takashi used the little momentum he gained from the fast flip to pick up the Assault and toss it hard. Unlike the demonified zombie from earlier, the Assault had been thrown too fast and too hard to attempt a mid-air recovery and Takashi, Shizuka, Saya, and Alice watched as it crashed into and through a wall across the street loud enough to be mistaken for a grenade explosion if they hadn't seen this happen. Zeke gave a triumphant bark at Takashi's dispatching of the demon and Takashi couldn't help but shoot the small dog a grin before getting serious and motioning for them all to get moving.

At the same time, Saeko, Rei, and Kohta were bombarding the Assault that had also landed near the other three girls. It had been hoping to help its brethren out against Takashi, but the two girls and gun-toting boy didn't let that happen, Kohta having opened fire on it and not letting up. The Assault growled as the bullets bounced off its scaled skin. It then leapt to the right to get out of the way of gunfire as it seemed to instinctively know that it if took too many rounds, some may actually pierce through the scales and do some serious damage. The Assault then charged at Kohta, moving far too fast for the boy to dodge from, let alone track and he ended up getting smacked hard by the Assault, who had brought up its shield arm to smash Kohta's face in.

Thankfully for him, the strike wasn't enough to kill him or even knock him out, the demon having underestimated how resilient humans can sometimes be. It roared in anger and moved in to finish the job, but was stopped by a sudden stab from Rei. She grunted as the blade on her gun made contact with its scales and tried to push it harder in, only to take a step back when the Assault swiped at her, claws extended out. Like Kohta, she didn't possess the speed necessary to fully dodge and so the claws did clip her a bit, drawing blood across her side torso. She yelled in pain as this was her first time being hit by a demon, especially one that possessed truly monstrous strength, and she staggered back.

Saeko made her move, not wanting to give the demon a chance to take even a step forward as she knew she had no chance of keeping up with its speed and agility. She was a skilled swordswoman, but she and the others didn't have the experience that a normal human like Lady had against fighting demons and that was a major disadvantage that she clearly recognized.

The sword wielding girl drew her sword and tried slicing into the main area that Kohta had peppered bullets with, hoping that it had weakened its scales somewhat enough for her to cut through. But the Assault saw it coming and quickly moved to the side to avoid the sword. It then lashed out with its claws, but Saeko managed to bring her sword back in time to block them although barely. She nearly buckled under the strength of the hit and was actually surprised that her sword didn't break or at least chip under the blow; the hit was just that strong. She suddenly found her respect for Dante and Takashi rise more as they had managed to actually match an Assault's strength and even overpower it, quite easily in Dante's case.

With a grunt, she stepped away from the Assault, making sure to move her arms and by extension her sword away from it last as she didn't want to risk anything. As soon as she did, the Assault leapt right after her, but Saeko managed to duck under it in time. Upon landing, the Assault turned to try again, but at this time, Kohta had managed to recover from the massive hit he took, his nose appearing to broken now as blood gushed out. He stood up as quickly as he could and after pulling out the empty gun cartridge and putting in a new one, resumed his attack from where he left off.

The Assault actually back away a bit, raising its shield arm to protect itself from the bullet rain that Kohta was unleashing. However, Kohta crouched slightly, his aim shifting away from its chest and face, now guarded by its shield, to its exposed stomach, which he had shot plenty just a moment ago.

The demon actually let out what could be a pained cry as a few bullets then tore right into its exposed flesh and managing to puncture it just a bit. It roared and brought down its shield arm and instead prepared to fire off a few of its signature seed projectiles. It never got the chance for at that instant, Rei had managed to ignore the fiery pain in her side long enough to charge at it, bayonet on her gun sticking straight out and it sunk right into one of the holes now on the Assault's stomach. The Assault cried out once more, only louder as Rei's bayonet went in deep, evidenced by what sounded like a puncturing sound of an internal organ followed by a slow trail of light greenish blood oozing out from the now serious wound.

Saeko, not wanting to be outdone here, also joined Rei by rushing forward and stabbing her sword right into another bullet hole in its body. Unlike the short bayonet of Rei's, Saeko's sword of considerable length managed to go all the way through and go out the back of the Assault via the weakened flesh there. Blood gushed out from both the entry and exit wound, Saeko having managed to stab right through a much more important internal organ. The demon was no longer roaring in pain and instead gurgling its own blood, it having flowed up into its throat. That didn't mean it was going to just die easily. As Rei and Saeko tried to apply more strength to the stabs, the Assault brought up its arms and slammed them into the girls. The blows, although strong enough to nearly break a few of their ribs and in Rei's case, make the wound on her side hurt much more as well as dirty and slightly tear their clothes thanks to the claws, were losing its strength fast. The Assault was simply bleeding out too much to hit them anywhere near as hard it did earlier.

It tried to stay on its feet, but that was a battle of mind over body that the demon was losing quite badly. It didn't help it that Kohta came up next to the now hurting girls and shot several rounds into the Assault's face. The Assault managed to cry out, whipping its tail around quickly enough to smack Kohta in the side, disorienting him, before it finally slumped to the ground dead, the girls withdrawing their weapons in the process.

They were feeling quite tired now, adrenaline notwithstanding, but they ignored the burn in their muscles from all the running and fighting they were doing and pressed on, going off after Takashi and the girls.

Meanwhile, Dante and Lady had just finished up the three Assaults that had went after them. Dante had overpowered one with Rebellion before knocking it back and slicing it clean in two down the center, using more strength against it than he normally would, a sign that showed even he recognized when was a good time for him to stop screwing around. The other two had gone for Lady, the weaker of the two devil hunters, but that didn't mean she was weak herself. One had gone for her legs, but received the blade at the end of the Kalina Ann piercing right through the top of its skull for its trouble. It hadn't even had a chance to cry as it bled out before Lady pulled the trigger of his missile launcher as well. Normally, such an action would be suicidal given that this was done at point blank range against the demon and while it was on the ground too, but Lady was incredibly agile to say the least and was able to jump back enough to avoid the explosion when her missile slammed right into the Assault's bleeding head, killing it instantly as well as sending chunks of its upper body flying all over the place. the other Assault took some damage from the explosion as well for when its now dead fellow demon went low, this one had gone high and got blown back from the force.

Whereas the explosion utterly obliterated the dead Assault's upper body, this Assault was heavily damaged below the waist, its legs nothing more than slightly burned, bleeding stumps now due to its proximity to the explosion. Its misery was short-lived though for Dante immediately walked up to it and blasted its head with a powerful charged shot with the Coyote-A that he whipped out as soon as Lady shot the missile.

"Well what do you know, we're the last to finish," Dante commented as he looked and saw the rest of the group already running.

"Let's take that as a sign that they're getting comfortable fighting demons now, Lady remarked before she shot off after them, Dante following after with a snicker.

They quickly caught up with the group, Takashi calling out to them when he heard their approach. "Took you guys long enough," he said as he picked up his speed a bit.

"In our defense, we had more than one guest to entertain," Dante retorted casually. He caught up with Takashi and then slowed his running pace a bit. The group was silent, just running straight now while trying to ignore the sounds of the demons and zombies still a ways behind them. Dante rolled his eyes. "You'd think they be just a bit faster…"

"You sound as if you want them to catch up," Saya said to the silver haired devil hunter.

Dante glanced at the girl over his shoulder. "Nah, but it is kinda weird."

Saya raised a tired eyebrow, hoping that the port Takashi spoke of was not too far away now. "What do you mean by that?"

Dante adopted a serious expression. He didn't say anything, but Lady did in his place, her expression just as serious. "I can understand the Scarecrows and the zombies being slow, but there are still some Assaults in that little mob of theirs. They should be right on our tails, especially after our little distractions, but they're not."

Some of the group turned behind them to see that the Assaults remaining were keeping relative pace with the Scarecrows and zombies in the front of the group. Not that far behind those demons were two Mega Scarecrows as well, spinning right at them, but nowhere near their normal speed due to being surrounded by so many of their demon brethren. The zombies didn't slow them down much at all judging by blood spatter and bones that could be seen slightly flying through the air, but the massive demons didn't seem as eager to accidently roll over its smaller cousins.

"That is odd," Takashi said.

Kohta nodded, huffing badly now. "It's almost like they're waiting…"

Rei looked at him nervously. "For what?"

No one answered her; they didn't want to know themselves if it was something that could make all of these demons keep their distance, albeit not enough to comfort the group.

"How much farther, Onii-chan?" Alice asked, getting very exhausted now. The rest of the group save for Takashi, Dante, and Lady were now really feeling fatigued especially Kohta, Rei, and Saeko thanks to the hits they took from the Assault.

"Not too far," Takashi said, smiling what he hoped was a reassuring smile to calm the girl; she looked ready to collapse from exhaustion, either that or simply start crying due to how perilous things were looking right now.

Takashi looked away from the tired girl, hoping that he was right. He has come this way to the port several times before, but this time around it felt much farther away. He couldn't help but worry if they'd make it there before something even worse happens or if the boats there were gone or destroyed. If that turned out to be, then they were screwed as they'd just be boxing themselves into one area.

But as soon as he thought that, Takashi immediately dismissed it for when he looked down the ruined road, he saw the familiar gate to the port. "It's not that much farther at all! It's just right there!" he exclaimed happily.

Some of the others strained their eyes as much as they could to see if this was true and sure enough, they saw the same thing Takashi had seen. "Thanks God!" Rei cried, feeling so happy that for a moment her pain and fatigue disappeared. Saeko and Kohta felt similar as well.

The group picked up their pace, their energy renewed from the joy they were now feeling. They were just minutes away from reaching the gate to the port, only to receive a big surprise.

A whistling sound, one akin to when something heavy is falling fast, can be heard, bringing them to a dead stop. They were right to do so for something or rather several somethings landed not too far in front of the port gate. Dust had been knocked up into the air thanks to the objects landing hard and it spread far enough to make some of the group cough to get the dust out of their faces.

A few seconds later the dust settled and the group was shocked to see what was in front of them: a group of Blitz-zombies. What surprised them more was that some of the ones in front were familiar to the group especially the foremost one.

"I-i-is that-" Kohta stuttered out, pointing at the apparent leader of these Blitz-zombies.

Rei next to him dumbly nodded. "Shidou."

The Blitz-zombies had finally caught up with them, the main cause of all the noise around them. The undead Shidou seemed to look right at them despite him being practically blind. Yet despite this, he seemed to recognize them, signified by the very Blitz-like growl he let out.

His fellow Blitz-zombies responded to his action and growled themselves at the group. Then they leapt right at them, Shidou in front. And he was heading straight for Rei.

* * *

Whew, that certainly took some effort to think through! I had so many ideas on how to do this chapter that I ended up giving myself a bad case of writer's block at some points throughout the writing of this.

Well, not much else to say other than I plan to take about a week or two to plan all of the smaller details of what I want in the next chapter before writing it so that I won't have to worry about getting writer's block and forgetting what I wanted to happen next. So chances are it'll be about a month or maybe even longer before the next chapter is posted.

Anyways, thanks for reading and please be sure to review!


	24. Chapter 24

Yo there guys! Not much to say other than this is the second to last chapter of Devil Apocalypse! Damn, has it really been nearly two years since I first published this fic? Time sure does fly when writing.

Here is the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy!

ONLY ONE CHAPTER LEFT AFTER THIS!

Chapter 24

The demonified Shidou growled as he charged right at Rei. Rei naturally froze up at the blur coming right at her, having not expected the man she considered her worst enemy to show up again, not only as one of Them, but a demonified one as well.

Shidou had evidently inherited a good portion of a Blitz's blinding speed, easily surpassing an Assault's. Combined with strength comparable to an actual Blitz demon as well and he was easily the strongest demonified zombie around, something that Shidou was unconsciously planning on showing to Rei, someone his undead mind somehow managed to recall upon seeing her. However, he didn't get the chance to crush her with his now outstretched arms for right before he made deadly contact, Takashi, with impeccable timing, threw himself right at Shidou's side.

Shidou had the air knocked out of him as he and Takashi went tumbling right past Rei at a diagonal angle due to the momentum that Shidou had built up from his lunge. Takashi quickly got up and went in for a punch, snarling at the man that had quickly become a very detestable person in the past. But much to his shock, Shidou actually recovered faster from the crash than expected and got up and lashed out at him faster than he could react. Shidou's huge fist slammed dead straight into Takashi's face, shattering his nose and immediately spilling blood across the ground.

Takashi went flying back from the surprisingly powerful blow, garnering the attention of the group. "Takashi-onii-chan!" Alice cried, Rei and Saeko looking just as worried as her. Shizuka, Saya, and Kohta looked about ready to rush after the air-born teen and help him when he lands.

Dante and Lady however had their attention focused on the Blitz-zombies for as soon as their 'leader' delivered the strike, they began to move forward. This drew the rest of the group's attention as well. "Shit!" Kohta yelled as he took aim with his machine gun. He knew right away that this was one fight they couldn't avoid; they were surrounded on both sides and in order to get to the port, they had to beat down the Blitz-zombies in front of them. Just fighting their way past them wouldn't be enough to ensure their survival.

At the sound of Kohta quickly reloading, the Blitz-zombie all fanned out and charged forward. Their speed, while not on the same level as Shidou, was still as great and even a little greater than an Assault's and so the group for the most part were taken completely off guard. It was only the knowledge that demons usually like to charge straight at them that saved Kohta, Saeko, and Rei from being split in two from the raging demonified zombies as they just barely ducked in time to save themselves from potentially fatal injuries.

As one of the demonified zombies, its hideous, rotting face still intact enough to reveal itself to have once been Yuuki Miku, a fellow student from Takashi's and co's school and Shidou's apparent right-hand girl, got back up after her failed charge at Saeko, Dante ran right up to her and whipped Rebellion off his back, an action that led into a perfect downwards slash. The demonified Yuuki growled as the massive blade cut right into her left shoulder. She would have responded in kind had Dante not chose to kick her back right after pulling his sword out of the now gushing wound he inflicted.

Yuuki tumbled back from the force of the hit, right back to Saeko who drew her own sword and aimed a slash right into the wound Dante just made, hoping to sever the arm. Right when Yuuki came to a stop and began to get up, ignoring the bleeding wound, Saeko managed to sink her blade right into the wound, but Yuuki's Blitz-like skin proved to be just as tough as an Assault's if not more so as Saeko only managed to cut several inches in, not enough to slice the arm off.

Saeko swore, a rarity, but it seemed rather appropriate for this moment as Yuuki merely shrugged off the extra damage and swatted Saeko aside. Saeko had the air knocked right out of her as Yuuki's Blitz-like arm smashed into her side and knocked her several yards away. She swore she felt something crack upon being hit, but couldn't be sure for she ended up quite disoriented when she hit the ground.

"Shit," Lady swore upon seeing all this. She pulled out a machine gun with one and a pistol in the other and unloaded a flurry of machine gun rounds into Yuuki, drawing her attention towards her. "Dante, deal with the demons catching up to us!"

Dante, who had been about to attack once again, paused for a second to look where they had run from and noted the demon mob getting closer, whatever hesitation they had before in trying to keep up now gone. Dante swore under his breath; demons always were good at taking advantage of situations.

Normally, he would have started a bit of an argument with Lady over how many demons each of them should take when on a job together, but he wasn't going to do so this time. Dante just gave Lady a bit of a mock salute and then ran off towards to the approaching demon crowd.

As soon as he bolted, Lady once more attacked Yuuki, aiming for her eyes with shots from the pistol. She knew that such a move really wouldn't matter given that zombies are practically blind already, but any damage counted towards putting the abominable Yuuki down. Lady was actually hoping that a bullet may be able to go right on through and pierce her brain to spare her one trouble.

Unfortunately, she was not that lucky as Yuuki, unconsciously sensing the potential danger, hopped to the right before charging forward at the heterochronic devil hunter, but Lady was ready for it. She rolled forward, going right underneath the demonified zombie and in the process of the roll, Lady took aim with the machine gun and fired off several rounds into Yuuki's exposed stomach. The demonified zombie actually howled as her stomach was still relatively humanish and as such was far more vulnerable than the parts of her that took after the Blitz. Yuuki doubled over in what could have been pain while still in the air and ended up rolling across the ground, but was able to quickly brush aside the five new holes in her stomach and get up despite the now slow, but steady dripping of coagulated blood from the holes.

Lady was also standing now and opened fire again with her machine gun, but Yuuki ran forward before leaping slightly to the side. She did the same thing again and again as Lady continued to shoot, moving not unlike an Assault normally would at times, but thanks to her speed compared to an Assault's, Yuuki was dodging the bullets much more often than an Assault would be able to.

Lady wasn't deterred by how easily her bullets were being avoided and actually ran forward a bit once Yuuki got within three yards of her. She put away her machine gun and then placed her now free hand on Kalina Ann, gripping it tightly. Lady then used her other hand, which still held the pistol, to fire off a few rounds at Yuuki's face, distracting her and that was when Lady struck. She whirled around, whipping Kalina Ann off her back with the hand that gripped it. The butt of the huge missile launcher sailed right into the left side of Yuuki's face, the weight of it combined with the surprising force of Lady's swing knocking Yuuki back and managing to slightly tear off the small part of her face that was still that of a very rotting zombie and not a demonified one.

Lady continued her whirl around and then put her pistol away, taking aim with the Kalina Ann at Yuuki, but before she could get a lock on the demonified zombie and blow her to Hell, Yuuki suddenly ducked and swiped at Lady's feet. The devil hunter was slightly startled at Yuuki's speed, but was able to jump high enough to avoid the massive arm, but not completely as Yuuki's arm grazed the bottom of one of Lady's feet, making her lose her balance and crash into the ground.

Lady grunted a bit in pain due to the weight of the Kalina Ann slamming on her side as she crashed, but she shrugged off the slight pain as Yuuki tried to punch her with her other arm. Lady barely managed to maneuver Kalina Ann in front of the incoming fist in time to block it, but the strength of the hit was still great enough to crack the ground beneath Lady.

Yuuki just kept her fist on top of Lady, pinning her down while she slowly raised her other arm to punch the devil hunter, who was currently trying to make the fist move. Lady was having no such luck and was about to attempt to whip out her pistol and shoot, but much to her surprise, Saeko, who had finally recovered from the powerful hit earlier, came running at Yuuki from behind and sliced as hard as she could into the shoulder wound.

The demonified zombie roared upon feeling the blade sink into the wound, making it even deeper and pumping out even more blood and she turned to swat Saeko away again, but Saeko was ready for it this time and pull her sword out of the shoulder in time to parry the blow, managing to deflect it away from her by slamming the side of her sword against the side of Yuuki's incoming arm.

Saeko then moved from her spot behind the Blitz-zombie and swung her sword across the side of Yuuki's stomach. The spot she struck was partially that of a Blitz and so the resulting cut wasn't much, but compared to what could have happened had she struck a more Blitz-like spot, it was enough to draw some blood and that was something that slightly raised Saeko's hopes. She went in for another slash, this time across the front of the stomach, cutting right across some of the bullet wounds Lady inflicted earlier.

Yuuki let out a Blitz worthy roar and took her arm off of Lady, allowing her to finally get some air as it had begun to suffocate her. Yuuki turned her full attention onto Saeko, who now stood just a few feet away from the demonified zombie, sword held at the ready.

"Are you alright?" Saeko asked Lady without taking her eyes off of her opponent.

Lady nodded as she quickly got back up. Holding the Kalina Ann tightly, Lady glared at Yuuki. "We have to take her down now. There's no telling how bad things could quickly be with zombies like her around now."

Saeko nodded in confirmation. She knew that demonified zombies were far more dangerous than normal ones, but she never expected Blitz-zombies like Yuuki or Shidou. They were even more dangerous than Assaults, a thought that definitely didn't put her at ease right now. The only reason why she was so calm now was because Lady was here to help her out.

None of the three moved at first, Lady and Saeko not doing so because they were thinking of the best way to attack while Yuuki was just waiting for one of them to make a sound to home in on. Several seconds later, Lady and Saeko took a step forward. Yuuki charged at the nearest one of them.

Meanwhile, Kohta and Rei were trying to fend off Shidou, who seemed almost obsessed with going after Rei. The two were practically pinned up against the closed gate to the port, Shizuka, Saya, Alice, and Zeke right up against it while the two remained in front to guard them in case Shidou changed targets. But he didn't and he proved to be relentless in his attacks and as a result, Kohta had a small gash above his right eye, the leaking blood obscuring his vision a bit as it got on his glasses. He also had bruises bigger than an average human fist on his arms and part of his stomach, his clothes were slightly torn and dirtied from how Shidou had been smacking him and Rei around the past few minutes and he was practically running on empty as far as stamina goes.

Rei was fairing just as badly as Kohta if not just a little bit worse, bruises on her arms from trying to block some hits, bleeding cuts on her legs from skidding across the ground from the hits, hair rather tangled out of place and a small part of her shirt was torn, exposing her bruised and bleeding left shoulder. Shidou made it a point to really rough her up.

Kohta and Rei breathed heavily, wounds taking their toll. However, despite all the damage they were taking, they were still able to fight relatively well as long as they pushed aside the pain so it didn't seem like anything was broken. Yet. And on another note, through teamwork, sheer willpower, and a little help from Saya and her decent aim with her gun, the duo were able to deal some small wounds to Shidou himself, bullet holes and stab wounds littering the few still human areas of his body. Blood poured out of some more than others due to how deep some were and while it didn't even remotely cripple the leader of the Blitz-zombies, it was still enough to show that they had at least managed to do something to him.

It had been hard though to inflict those small wounds, given Shidou's immense speed and strength. More often than not, Kohta and Rei had been unable to dodge his vicious swipes and punches, only able to land an attack after he had hit them, provided they recovered from the hits fast enough. Saya was able to give them more time to recover every now and then by trying to shoot Shidou in the face, irritating the Blitz-zombie and distracting him from his two targets long enough for them to go for his weak spots.

This led them to where they are now, Shidou wounded, Kohta and Rei more heavily so. Shizuka held Alice tightly, the little girl looking ready to cry while Zeke merely stayed in front of Alice, a snarl on his face. Saya was standing just a bit in front of them with her gun held tightly in her hand. Sweat rolled down the girl's face, mainly due to stress getting to her a bit and also having to nearly wave her arms around to get a lock on Shidou at times.

"Why isn't he moving?" Kohta whispered as lowly as possible to them as Shidou now appeared to just stand there a few yards away from them.

Rei shifted her grip on her bayonet gun. "Don't know," she whispered back. Shidou took a half step forward, startling them all, but that was all he did. He growled and began to move his head around, apparently looking for them.

Saya then seemed to figure out what was going on right now. "He can't see us, just like Them," she began to say quietly to them, "he relies on sound to find us and since right now, we're not doing anything really loud, he can't do anything."

"Then why isn't he going after the others? They're making plenty of noise," Rei said, gesturing quietly to Saeko and Lady, who now appeared to be getting the upper hand on Yuuki, Lady peppering her with bullets to distract while Saeko moved in and finally managed to slice all the way through the shoulder wound, severing Yuuki's arm.

"He mainly focused his attacks on you. I guess a part of his mind is still active enough to recognize you and want to kill you. And since he subconsciously knows you're not over there, he's not moving from here," Saya explained in a whisper.

Kohta spared a glance at Saya. "So then what? We just wait here?"

"I'm nearly of bullets and so will you soon enough if you keep shooting him. We're all dead tired and he's not. If you don't want us to die, then yes, we just wait here, at least until we recover some stamina," Saya answered, glaring at Kohta to reinforce her words.

Kohta didn't say anything back to that for a minute before speaking again. "Just how many of these guys are there?"

Saya looked around and saw that there were two tangling with Takashi over a dozen yards away from where Dante was at, who was currently killing off a good portion of the demon and zombie crowd. Three Blitz-zombies were hopping their ways towards him as well. "Including Shidou and the one Lady and Saeko are fighting, there are seven total. Two are taking on Komuro while the other three are heading for that damn idiot," she answered.

Rei suddenly found herself worrying for Takashi. "Is Takashi doing alright?" she asked, nervous for him.

Saya didn't even bother looking to see if he was okay. "Don't worry. He'll be fine."

Takashi however, wasn't really doing that fine. At first, when he was knocked back early on in this mess, one Blitz-zombie came at him and he was able to kick it away as he got back up. When he had done so, the same Blitz-zombie came at him again. Takashi had recognized it as the guy that stated on the bus not long after this whole zombie thing started – a time that felt so long ago right now – that he didn't like Takashi and had tried to hit him. Though Takashi didn't know his name, his name was Tsunoda.

Tsunoda, now a Blitz-zombie, had charged at Takashi when he got back up, but Takashi, thanks to his experience with Assaults now, was able to relatively easy duck and hit Tsunoda with a vicious uppercut. However, this had attracted the attention of another Blitz-zombie, this one formerly a person that Takashi didn't recognize at all. When the second one joined in, Takashi immediately found the battle quickly starting out much differently than he had hoped, leading him to get roughed up a bit. Which led to now.

Takashi had no wounds thanks to his regeneration, but that didn't mean he was unhurt; the two demonified zombies had landed several hits on him and he felt each and every one of them. His clothes were dirtied and his shirt was slightly torn across the left sleeve and chest area, exposing his entire left arm and part of his chest. His silver hair had a bit of dirt in it too from being knocked down headfirst into ground by Tsunoda. Some blood from wounds that have quickly healed were splatted on the lower part of his shirt, his pants, and a bit on the ground as well.

"Fucking shit," he swore under his breath as he took a boxer stance, the Gilgamesh gauntlets pulsing a bit as he clenched his hands. Both Tsunoda and the other Blitz-zombie circled about him, waiting for an opening to attack as Takashi kept on moving around in a bit of a circle to keep them in his line of sight.

Suddenly, the Blitz-zombie lunged at him, but Takashi ran forward to meet him and proceeded to bury his fist into its already ugly face. He heard it crunch under the strength of his punch and couldn't help but be thankful that its face was still relatively human. However, that didn't mean that it was dead; the Blitz-zombie ignored the punch as best as it could and punched Takashi in the stomach. Takashi had the air knocked out of him and his feet buckled a bit, but he didn't lose his footing, not wanting to give Tsunoda a chance to join in on the attack. Takashi pulled his other fist back and slammed it into the Blitz-zombie's throat, crushing it like nothing under the force. The Blitz-zombie stumbled back from the hit, coughing up a bucket of blood as it began to roar. Takashi cut it off with powerful kick to the same spot, crushing in the throat further before delivering one final uppercut that literally took the Blitz-zombie's head off as a result of the now drastically weak neck. Blood spewed out of the neck as the head went flying off into the distance, courtesy of the strike having been an a slightly charged one.

"One down, one to go," Takashi thought. He was pleasantly surprised at how weak that Blitz-zombie turned out to be, chalking it up to it having not eaten much of a Blitz and therefore didn't end up as strong as the other Blitz-zombies.

However, he didn't get a chance to further enjoy the moment for Tsunoda ran at him, coming in low and taking him off guard and off his feet with a leg tackle. Takashi yelled out in surprise as he ended up flipping onto the ground and crashed. Evidently, Tsunoda was one of the zombies to eat more of a Blitz and power up.

Tsunoda didn't give the silver haired teen a chance to try and get back on his feet, jumping high into the air and dive bombing right into Takashi's back. This had the effect of creating a large crater beneath Takashi, easily several yards in diameter and a few feet deep thanks to the height of the jump and momentum Tsunoda built up. Takashi spat out a considerable amount of blood due to effectively having his back smash right in and was unable to immediately try and move. This gave Tsunoda time to get off of Takashi, grab him by the leg with one of his massive Blitz-like hands and hurl him into the air several yards. When Takashi started sailing down, Tsunoda jumped and punched him hard in the side of the head, bloodying Takashi's ear and sending him flying back down to the ground.

He hit the ground hard and his body ended up skipping like a stone across it until he managed to bring himself to a stop by rolling. He looked up just in time to see Tsunoda land and run right him. When he was close enough, Takashi went for a leg sweep, the attack's speed amped by the slightly charged Gilgamesh grieve, but Tsunoda proved to be fast enough to react to it, rolling in the direction it was going in to avoid it. Tsunoda then tried to punch Takashi in the side of his ribs, but Takashi brought up his hand and actually caught the incoming fist, but it wasn't easy as the punch was strong enough to match the kind of power Gilgamesh granted him.

Takashi pushed the fist back, putting his body weight into it and Tsunoda stumbled back enough for Takashi to get some space. But that space between didn't remain for long as Takashi then went forward and sunk a knee into Tsunoda's gut followed by charging up both gauntlet covered fists and smashing them into the Blitz-zombie's now exposed back.

Now it was Tsunoda that found himself in the middle of a crater, one that formed just now from Takashi's hit and it was just as big as the one Takashi had been in not even half a minute ago. Unlike Tsunoda, who had grabbed and flung him, Takashi opted for something else against the downed opponent: repeated blows to the back of his skull. He charged up his right fist as much as he could and brought it down on Tsunoda's head, the impact creating a sickening crunch as it slightly caved in the back of Tsunoda's Blitz-like skull and made the crater a bit bigger. Takashi now charged up his left fist and did the same thing, with the same results only this time, the punch drew blood from Tsunoda's head.

Takashi would have felt a bit relieved that Tsunoda may now be dead with just a few more punches, but that wasn't so for before he could do it a third time, Tsunoda moved his head to the left, narrowly avoiding Takashi's fist. Faster than Takashi could react, Tsunoda spun around the ground, almost like a break-dancer, only if a break-dancer wanted to try and kill someone. His foot made contact with Takashi's head, followed by the other foot. This knocked Takashi away and disoriented him, enough so that Tsunoda could get back on his feet, charge and slam a huge shoulder into Takashi's gut.

The silver haired teen went skidding across the ground, but still remained standing, having been able to somewhat tense himself for it. But Tsunoda moved in on him and tried to him in the gut. Takashi was able to bring up his hands in time to catch Tsunoda's incoming knee, but only barely. Takashi pushed back as hard as he could and the Blitz-zombie lost his balance a bit due to the sudden and strong push, allowing Takashi to sink a fist into Tsunoda's stomach as payback. He watched as the Bltiz-zombie doubled over from the hit and then proceeded to slam his knee right into Tsunoda's now bowed head, the strike considerably faster than normal as he had charged up the grieve on his foot a bit to boost it.

This had the effect of knocking Tsunoda several feet into the air easily. He didn't stay airborne for long though, for Takashi leapt right above and dropkicked his opponent right in the face. He felt it crack under the force and blood flew out from Tsunoda's nose before he went barreling to the ground, which he hit hard.

The Blitz-zombie roared as he went bouncing across the ground a bit, leaving small craters at the spots he hit. Takashi landed just in time for Tsunoda to start getting back up. "Let's get this over with!" he said and then charged at Tsunoda.

As he did all this, Dante was currently having a bit of fun with the demons and zombies that had been following them like bloodhounds. During the time they had been occupied by the Assault-zombies and now the blitz-zombies, normal ones have managed to appear, attracted by the noise and now Dante had to watch out for any that got too close. The last thing the group needed was a zombie amped up by his power.

Dante was currently being surrounded by two Assaults and three Scarecrows, one of which had a leg blade, and other demons were quickly approaching. This would have had anyone else wetting themselves at being surrounded by such deadly creatures, but not Dante. He merely smirked and readied Rebellion. "Bring it!" he said.

At this, one Assault launched three of its seeds at him while the other moved in on Dante from the opposite direction. Dante waited slashed one seed out of the air and rather than do the same to the other two, he did a backflip over the incoming Assault from behind. Landing quickly, he booted the Assault right in the back, knocking right into the seeds. It cried out in a bit of pain as the objects struck its face and chest hard, hard enough to bruise the demon.

Dante didn't give it a chance to recover as he charged then charged forward with a Stinger, putting much more power into the attack than he normally did. Not even a second after performing the attack, Rebellion made contact with the Assault, piercing it right through the back and coming out the middle of the Assault's chest. It roared out in immense pain as blood flew out from both the entry and exit wound a bit, albeit a bit. That changed when Dante immediately pulled out the massive blade in order to block the other Assault, who had roared in anger at its hurt comrade and charged at the devil hunter, ignoring the now massive amount of greenish blood that spurted right out of the open wound. This prompted a last cry of pain out of the Assault before it fell to the ground dead. Even demons couldn't survive losing too much blood.

Dante pushed back the attacking Assault just in time for the Scarecrow to leap into the air and attempt to come right down and skewer him. The devil hunter, rather than dodge the attack, chose to meet it head on by swinging Rebellion at the Scarecrow's blade leg. The two clashed for the briefest of seconds before Rebellion overpowered the blade leg and proceeded to actually shatter it, prompting the black blood of the Scarecrow to spurt out a bit of the now stump of a leg.

The Scarecrow then fell pathetically to the ground and moaned, but was cut off by Dante, who whipped out the Coyote-A and blasted it in the face with a charged shot. The powerful shotgun blast completely blew off the demon's face, killing it instantly.

Had anyone from the group been watching this, they'd be surprised to see how easily Dante was killing the demons so far compared to earlier encounters with them. But Dante, despite the smirk still present on his face, knew that the situation was bad, very bad and as such wasn't exactly using the kiddie gloves against the still incoming mob of demons and zombies. And it seemed as if both of the unnatural sides have unconsciously struck a truce; demons and zombies weren't attacking each other anymore, instead just keeping a steady pace towards Dante. The only thing that they did to one another was just slow each other down due to how bunched together they all were. Which worked just fine for Dante; it made killing them easier.

Some zombies near the front of the crowd managed to move forward and started to hobble towards Dante, but he didn't even bother letting them get several steps towards him as he whipped out Ebony and Ivory and started shooting. He ignored the bit of blood that went flying from their skulls and put away the twin guns before holding Rebellion in a reverse grip.

"Come on!" he yelled at the group as several Scarecrows started walking over the bodies of the fallen zombies, ten other zombies and several Assaults falling behind. The Mega Scarecrow from the beginning of the chase wasn't too far behind the advancing demons and zombies and off in the distance behind it, another Mega Scarecrow could be seen coming. The closest one, which had been lumbering forward, stopped and spread its legs out with two of its blade arms raised.

Dante recognized its pose; it was about to try and jump over the demons and zombies in its way to try and crush him under its body. He wasn't about to let that happen. He gripped Rebellion tighter and in doing so, it began to glow a fierce blood red. A few of the Assaults behind the zombies started to run forward while another prepared to fire off some seeds. The Scarecrows for their part, tried to pick up their pace, but all of this was for naught as Dante then performed his Drive attack, swinging his sword with an unbelievable amount of force forward. A red wave of sheer energy launched forward at the incoming enemies, who were too slow to dodge it, though some Assaults were able to raise their shield arms in time to try and block it. Unfortunately for them, their shields made no difference as the wave cut them like a hot knife through butter, splattering their blood and the blood of the zombies and Scarecrows all over the place. Some of the blood even mixed together to form something that Dante unconsciously referred to as a weird swamp in the middle of the street.

The Drive attack was such that it cut down all demons and zombies between Dante and the Mega Scarecrow. The Mega Scarecrow itself was also hit, but was considerably more resilient than its smaller brethren, and so it survived the attack, albeit with a diagonal gash across its front, black blood spewing out. It cried in pain and stumbled back. Dante chuckled. "Nice new look you got going for you. Suits you," he taunted. However, that was when the three Blitz-zombies that was heading for him earlier suddenly decided to attack.

The Blitz-zombies had actually been there, not far behind Dante for just half a minute or so, but didn't bother attacking, unconsciously deciding in their rotten, undead minds to attack when the devil hunter relaxed his guard. Which was now. One charged right at him from behind and Dante barely sensed him in time to whirl around and block an incoming punch with the flat side of Rebellion. The Blitz-zombie was considerably stronger than the one that Takashi had easily dispatched, but was still nothing compared to a real Blitz, a fact that was shown by Dante easily knocking it back. However, one of the other Blitz-zombies came at Dante from the side in the form of a tackle. The tackle actually connected and the Blitz-zombie managed to push Dante back a bit before Dante brought Rebellion down on one of its arms, slicing cleanly off and then proceeded to slam an elbow into its back followed by a knee to the stomach and then pulling out Coyote-A to blast it in the face. This didn't kill the Blitz-zombie, but it got him off of Dante.

But the first Blitz-zombie along with the third one, a female that had her shirt torn open from her metamorphosis from a normal zombie to a demonified, exposing her now grotesque looking breasts, both charged at Dante, the male one slamming into his back while the female one jumped over Dante, her foot kicking him in the back of the head as she did so. Upon landing, she slammed right into Dante's stomach, depriving him of air momentarily. But Dante shrugged it off as best as he could, having taken much stronger hits in the past. He looked down at the female Blitz-zombie and his eye twitched. "Never thought I'd see the day where I'd actually like a girl to cover up," he muttered upon seeing her twisted, somewhat sagging breasts.

He got over this sight quickly though and pushed her away before back flipping over the male one tackling him from behind and midway through the flip, he attempted to skewer him with Rebellion. Much to his surprise, the Blitz-zombie was fast enough to dodge to the left, avoiding the blade, but did get slightly grazed. Dante landed and then went in for a slice across the torso, but was interrupted by the other male Blitz-zombie, who tried to blindside the devil hunter. Dante swore, getting pissed at how persistent these Blitz-zombies were proving to be. He leapt away and put Rebellion back on his back and prepared to pull out a different Devil Arm, something he hasn't done since his fight at the mall with the Blitz due to enemies since then being relatively weak. But even he could tell that things called for some more variety of attacks here.

Dante was about to summon Pandora, but at that moment, the Mega Scarecrow chose to come rolling right at him, forcing the Blitz-zombies to move aside to avoid being crushed. Dante swore once more quite colorfully and sidestepped the massive demon as he pulled out Pandora. He whirled the deadly suitcase around above his head for the briefest of seconds before activating PF422: Grief. As soon as the suitcase transformed into the deadly disc-like form, Dante hurled it with great force at the Mega Scarecrow and watched as it started to spin around the demon, slicing it nearly a dozen times at rapid speeds before quickly returning to Dante, whose right hand was outreached to catch it.

The Mega Scarecrow groaned, having several new cuts on its large body, some of which being across its thin limbs, putting the demon at risk of losing a few if it made a wrong move. Dante decided he could put it down for good in just a bit as he heard the Blitz-zombies coming along with the demons and zombies still standing after the Drive attack and the Mega Scarecrow's rolling. He spun around, Pandora morphing once more, this time into its PF594: Argument form. Dante took aim at the three Blitz-zombies once firmly seated in the now mobile missile battery and fired. The closest Blitz-zombie dodged to the right as Pandora fired off several missiles at it, only for two to deviate from their straight course and go right for the Blitz-zombie. It cried out as the missiles struck head on, the resulting explosion of said objects blowing off half of its body. Its head was still intact, but it was far too damaged now to be of any threat. The other two also attempted to dodge, the female one leaping over one missile heading for her, but the missile flipped itself over and struck the female right in the back, the explosion blowing a big hole through her torso big enough for a child to curl up in. The female roared and started stumbling forward only for it to regain its balance for a brief second before collapsing. The last Blitz-zombie leapt back and then rolled to the side, but the missile persisted in following it and after lunging forward towards Dante was the missile able to catch up with its target and blast off its head, sending very small pieces of its skull towards the devil hunter, who took a few steps back to avoid getting it on his shoes.

Dante then put Pandora away for the moment and rushed forward to put the last two Blitz-zombies down for good, first heading straight for the female. He whipped Rebellion right off his back and with clean motion, cleaved the female straight in two. He didn't even give its now dead body enough time to split into its two bloody halves before running towards the male one and did an upwards swing that deprived him of the top part of his head.

The top part of the head didn't even sail that far through the air before the Mega Scarecrow decided to just forget about its critical wounds and jump high, intent on taking down the devil hunter even if it meant losing a limb or two in the process. Dante noticed its shadow on the ground and proceeded to whip out Pandora again, changing it into its PF398: Revenge form. Pandora quickly shifted into the powerful laser cannon and Dante just as quickly took aim at the now falling Mega Scarecrow. "Good night ugly," he said as he fired. The Mega Scarecrow actually seemed to give a look of fright and whimpered just before the beam struck it in the bottom, blowing a huge hole right through the demon. The wound was cauterized due to the intense heat of the blast and so no blood flowed out, but that didn't change the fact that the massive damage it delivered was enough to end the demon for good.

The Mega Scarecrow's body fell to the ground with a heavy thud, a blade launching out of its body to try and impale Dante, who just deflected to the side with Rebellion. He then turned after that to still see a considerable amount of demons and zombies heading for him. His eye twitched at just how many there were. It seemed like when he took down the Blitz-zombies and Mega Scarecrow, at least a dozen new demons, mainly Assaults and blade armed Scarecrows showed up along with a handful of zombies. He could even see several Scarecrow-like zombies off in the distance, hobbling their way towards him.

Dante sighed. "What is this place? The bloody palace?" he wondered aloud. Then again, this was a city they were in so it was expected for there to be so many demons and zombies around, he realized immediately after his words.

He looked at the now rapidly moving Assaults, now that the Mega Scarecrow was out of the way along with the frontline demons and zombies that Dante had taken out. "Looks like I'm going to have to do it huh?" Dante said to himself as he brought out a different Devil Arm: the twin swords Agni and Rudra.

"**Look brother, Master Dante has decided to finally use us in battle!" **Agni said. As if in excitement, the talking blade pulse very briefly with fire.

His sword brother Rudra seemed to be feeling a little elated too, evidenced by the strong wind that swirled around the sword. **"Indeed! It has been a long time since we have last been used!" **Rudra responded.

"**A very long time!"** Agni agreed.

Dante, annoyed by their talking, spun the sword around and smacked the talking hilts together. "Enough already! You're already giving me a headache! Let's just get this done!" Dante said in all seriousness; it never ceased to amaze him how these two could frustrate him with their always excited and somewhat formal manner of speaking. That and he hates people talking more than him, something they proved to be by their first encounter with the devil hunter.

"**As you wish, Master Dante!"** the two said in unison before falling silent.

Dante thanked his lucky stars that they became quiet so quickly; it would seem they did listen to him sometimes. "All right let's get this over with fast," he muttered and he charged at the incoming mob, Assaults roaring and Scarecrows letting out shrill battle cries of their own at the devil hunter.

Dante plowed right through the new front line of demons and zombies, decapitating two zombies at once with a horizontal slash with Rudra while stabbing a Scarecrow nearby with Agni. Blood spilled from the wounds inflicted, but Dante ignored this and whirled around to face a few Assaults. He went in low and then slammed the pommel of Agni right into the chin of an Assault before slicing upwards with Rudra, cutting open the demon's stomach and spilling out its innards. The devil hunter then jumped back to avoid another Assault jumping over its now deceased brethren and shoot a seed at close range at Dante, but Dante pulled up both blades in time to block the seed and then moved a little closer before performing a downwards cross slash on the demon, leaving an x-shaped wound on the Assault's chest. The two swords actually gave a bit of a cheer at being used to slaughter enemies like this, but Dante smacked the two together again to get them to shut up before flipping over the wounded Assaults and delivering a deadly flurry of diagonal and horizontal slashes across its back, cutting the Assault so much that the new wounds quickly took their toll and it fell forward dead.

Dante was about to turn and deal with last Assault, but it got the jump on him, hitting him as hard as it could in the side of his torso with a fierce right hook. At the same time, Scarecrows approached and as Dante staggered forward from the hit, two of the nearest Scarecrows moved forward, one intent to slice his head off with its arm blade while the other, which had a leg blade, moved forward to do a back flip with its blade, hoping to open up Dante's stomach. Dante recovered fast enough to block the Leg bladed Scarecrow with Rudra while bringing Agni up to parry the slice for his neck before moving a bit forward, spinning around the Leg bladed Scarecrow to get at the one with an arm blade. With one swift motion, he spun Agni around and cleaved the demon in two with a diagonal attack. The Scarecrow stumbled back crying in pain as black blood spurted out from the wound.

"Alright, enough of this," Dante thought. He was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed here with the vast number of enemies he was going up against. He was thankful that no zombies had been able to get close to him just now otherwise they might have been able to get a bite out of him while had been staggering from the Assault's hit.

Dante was about to be hit by some surrounding Scarecrows and the Assault from earlier along with four new ones that joined it planned to get in on the action as well, but they were all blown back by a powerful explosion of energy; Dante had activated his Devil Trigger just as the attacks were about to land. There amidst the surrounding and still growing crowd stood Dante in his Devil form, a reptilian-like being with spiky edges on his head, cracks that seemed to radiate energy on his chest and his signature red coat appeared to take on a more synthetic look, some parts of it looking like something akin to fins. "Alright, it's time to finish this crazy party," Dante said, his voice sounding a bit distorted, but nowhere near the level of some other demons.

Dante then held Agni and Rudra above his head and started to spin them around violently, Agni aglow with powerful flames that quickly began to spin outwards. Dante had just performed his Twister attack, the flames of Agni spreading out fast until they covered everything within thirty feet of Dante. Demons and zombies alike that were within range burned, their bodies now covered with the deadly flames, but Dante wasn't done just yet for a second later, he leapt into the air and flipped around so that he was upside down now and performed the next part of his attack: Tempest. A powerful gust of wind was then generated by Rudra and fanned out, blowing the flames outwards than they already were. This completely destroyed the demons and zombies already on fire, reducing them to little more than ash while the demons and zombies, both normal and demonified, that were out of range at first now had their turn at being made into charred bodies.

The other members of the group, despite the situation they were in, couldn't help but look in shock and awe at the sight of the deadly flame twister. "What's that?" Saya yelled out.

"Dante's finally getting serious," Lady said loud enough for them to hear without her eyes wandering away from the still standing Yuuki. The Blitz-zombie was proving to be one of the most annoying things that she has ever come across. Saeko nearby seemed to share the same sentiment.

"Wow, Dante onii-chan is so cool!" Alice said, stars in her eyes at the feat Dante performed. It was like something out of a superhero show to her. Zeke barked in agreement while Saeko looked on in amazement.

"Dante-san," she whispered to herself in a tone of what could best be described as affection or simply lust. The man just never ceased to amaze her, what with his confidence, his words, and actions.

Saya, Kohta, and Rei were just as amazed as the others, the latter two looking a bit slack jawed as they wondered why Dante just didn't do that in the beginning. Saya seemed to guess what they were saying if her sudden words were anything to go by. "Tch, typical of him to laze around before finally doing something," the short tempered girl said, though there was a small smirk on her face.

Shidou seemed to be interested in the devil hunter's power as well for he turned away from Rei and the others towards where Dante was. Although Shidou was blind, it looked to the group that he really was seeing Dante finish up his Tempest move and move further down the street after landing to attack the Mega Scarecrow far off in the distance.

Saya saw this as an opportunity. "Now's our chance!" she whispered quickly to the others near her, "try to get this gate open and to a damn boat!" she finished saying, mainly directed at Kohta who she usually told what to do. And he certainly didn't have to be told twice here.

The gun otaku spared a brief glance at Shidou, the Blitz-zombie still focused on all the noise Dante was making, before quickly moving past Saya and gently pushing Shizuka, Alice, and Zeke aside to try and get the closed gate open. "Hold this," he said to Shizuka as he handed her the machine gun he had in his hands. The busty nurse looked shocked that Kohta was suddenly giving her a gun to hold and was afraid of accidently shooting it, but Kohta didn't really give her a chance to protest as he thrust it into her hands before he tried to reach into his pocket for something that he could use to pick the lock. He could have shot it off, but didn't want Shidou to turn his attention back on them.

As Kohta began to pick the lock, Lady and Saeko were trying to finish off Yuuki. After they had managed to slice of her arm earlier, Yuuki seemed to try and dodge everything they threw at her, her speed and strength seeming to increase just a Blitz's would when they were covered in a red lightning shroud. Thankfully for the two of them, Yuuki had no shroud, but that still didn't make her any less easy to hit. Lady had taken a few hits from the Blitz-zombie, her arms with some bad bruises and her glasses had a bit of a crack. Her clothes were also slightly dirty, but not torn anywhere. Saeko for her part, seemed relatively fine as well aside from small cuts and bruises that now littered her legs, courtesy of Yuuki aiming her attacks low. But the two were growing very tired now and Yuuki wasn't. It was only a matter of time before they were too exhausted to try dodging or blocking anymore.

Yuuki took a step towards Lady who had a pistol in her left hand while the other tightly gripped Kalina Ann, ready to swing it at the Blitz-zombie if she got up close. Yuuki then charged at her and Lady started firing away at her as fast as she could with the pistol. Yuuki didn't bother to dodge the bullets as they were took weak against the Blitz parts of her body. Lady ran out of bullets just as Yuuki appeared in front of her, but she was quick to smack Yuuki dead center in the face with the butt of the gun, taking the Blitz-zombie by surprise so much that she staggered back enough for Saeko to rush at her from her position and slash Yuuki across the stomach. Yuuki roared as this was seventh cut she took the stomach and despite her rather tough body, the damage was accumulating now. It would take just a few more slices there to open up the stomach and have her insides fall out.

Lady seemed to notice that too for she quickly put away the empty pistol, not bothering to reload it, and instead pulled out her machine gun and opened fire on Yuuki's midsection. The Blitz-zombie sensed the danger and moved to right, going low to avoid the rain of bullets that Lady was unleashing. She weaved back and forth, dodging most of the bullets though there were some that clipped her backside and actually made some holes there. As she fired away, Lady moved closer to the Blitz-zombie and once she was within seven feet of her, she pointed Kalina Ann at Yuuki with her right hand while she kept firing the machine gun with her left. Lady fired two shots to Yuuki's left, forcing her to go right and that was when Lady fired her missile launcher.

Yuuki practically moved right into the spot Lady aimed at, but she heard the missile incoming and attempted to move back and was able to do a bit, but the missile struck the ground quickly and the explosion it generated was enough to severely damaged Yuuki, blowing off part of her upper right shoulder and a bit of her neck as well. Yuuki went sailing back across the ground, her head now an easy target for Saeko, who had moved clear of the Blitz-zombie and Lady once Lady had started advancing towards Yuuki.

But now Saeko was clear to move in and she did so, running at the down Yuuki and with a bit of a battle cry, Saeko did a something of a running crouch and once she was within a few feet of the still down Yuuki, she swung her sword right into the heavily wounded part of Yuuki's neck with all her strength and with the momentum she built up from running, Saeko was able to decapitate the Blitz-zombie, ending her unlife. Yuuki's head went rolling across the ground from the force of the swing and Saeko watched it go. Standing shakily to her feet, she couldn't help but smile at her and Lady having been able to overcome such a dangerous foe. Compared to when she first encountered demons, she was doing much better now, something that pleased her a bit.

Lady looked like she was pleased too, but didn't show it as well. She instead turned to go after Dante and help him trim down the numbers of demons and zombies even more, but this proved to be a bad move on her part; Shidou nearby had heard the sound of Yuuki's head rolling across the ground and somehow had enough sense to realize that it was down to just him and Tsunoda, who was in a stalemate with Takashi right now, the two boys dodging each other's attacks while trying to find an opening to go for.

Shidou recognized that things were going bad for him and just like when he was still human and had his full intelligence at the time, he right now felt this need to hurt the group where it hurt. When he had been human still, he had attempted to attack Rei at Saya's mansion, but had been stopped by Dante's and Lady's intervention. And right now Dante was busy with the demons and zombies and Lady was heading off to join him. His undead mind realized this and decided to try and succeed where he had failed earlier. Only this time he wasn't heading for Rei.

"Saeko one-chan!" Alice cried out as she, Shizuka, Saya, and Rei watched as Shidou suddenly lunged for the tired Saeko. Saeko, who had been looking away, heard the warning and turned just in time to see Shidou get within several feet of her and throw an absolutely vicious right hook. On sheer instinct, Saeko brought up her sword and attempted to block the incoming punch with the flat side of her blade. Her reflexes, although slightly dulled from exhaustion, were still great enough to bring up the blade in time to block, but the strike was powerful, far more powerful than anything Yuuki had thrown at her and everyone, even Lady and Dante who had heard Alice shout, watched as Saeko went flying through the air helplessly.

"No!" Takashi yelled as he watched from where he was at after having dodged yet another of Tsunoda's punches. He watch as Saeko came flying in his general direction and landed on the ground with a very heavy thud no more than twenty yards away.

Tsunoda took advantage of Takashi's focus on her to run forward and slug the teen hard in the gut, making him puke up a little blood. Takashi skidded back from the punch and doubled over a bit before collapsing on one knee. He grunted in pain from the blow as he tried to stand back up. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" he said over and over, not liking this one bit.

He looked up from where he was at to see Shidou go from standing where he had punch Saeko to running right at the down Saeko, his huge fists intent on grinding the girl into a bloody smear on the ground. Shidou moved at a speed that easily surpassed that of the other Blitz-zombies and within a split second, he had reach Saeko. Rearing back his right fist, Shidou was just about to punch the girl to oblivion.

Takashi and the others looked on in shock that this may be Saeko's last moment and all couldn't help but feel helpless at the situation; Dante and Lady were surrounded by too many demons and zombies to do anything and the others were nowhere near fast enough to save Saeko.

Takashi looked at Shidou's fist approaching Saeko's face as she registered what was about to happen to her. He watch as her eyes widened in shock and he saw the fear in there. "No!" he thought to himself, though it seemed as if he may have yelled it too; he just wasn't sure anymore. He completely ignored Tsunoda who was slowing move towards him with arms extended out to the side, intent on charging at Takashi. And he did, but Takashi still ignored him.

"No! No!" Takashi thought over and over again. He was not about to lose one of his friends, not when they all were so close to getting away from this whole damn mess. He felt a power begin to well up inside him, one that felt both alien yet familiar to him as if it were always a part of him. "NO!" he said both in mind and aloud. At this one word, an explosion of power suddenly came from him, knocking Tsunoda back and even taking Shidou by surprise enough to make him stop and take several steps back from Saeko. Everyone else looked on in shock. The power that just suddenly burst forward from Takashi wasn't anywhere near as strong as the power that Dante emanated when he activated his Devil Trigger, but it was still powerful nonetheless.

They all looked on at Takashi, whose eyes now glowed a blood red. Behind him stood a spectral image, one that looked remarkably similar to Dante's Devil Trigger appearance, only this one was mainly black in color rather than red and was missing the fins Dante had as well as the chest cracks though it made up for that with more spikes atop its head in a manner similar to Takashi's wild, spikey silver hair. Its hands were that of the Gilgamesh gauntlets, also black in color and seemed to glow the same color as Takashi's eyes.

"Get back from my friends, you mother fucking bastard," Takashi growled out in a distorted voice.

Dante, Lady, and the others couldn't believe just happened, none moreso than Dante; Takashi had just awakened his own Devil Trigger.

* * *

And there we go! Yeah, I know I said that this chapter wouldn't be out for a while, but not long after I posted the last chapter I just got hit with a sudden thing of motivation for some reason (probably from listening to my DMC4 soundtrack after so long) and ended up just doing this chapter. And boy oh boy, did this chapter turn out good in my opinion. And long too, easily the longest chapter I've done yet; over 9,000 words! No DBZ pun intended ha ha ha.

If this sudden motivation lasts, I'll try to get the next and final chapter out relatively soon, but chances are it may be a few weeks depending on how things go. And I also have a bit of a one-shot that relates to this fic planned as well. I hope you guys enjoy that when I get to it.

Thanks for reading and please be sure to review!


	25. Chapter 25

My God, I can hardly believe I got to this. The final chapter of my first non-one shot fic. Damn, I feel rather proud for some reason.

And don't think that this is over just yet; I have what I hope will be an entertaining one-shot that ties in to this fic planned. I hope to get it up relatively soon.

Here it is guys, the final chapter to Devil Apocalypse! Hope you enjoy it until the end!

Final Chapter

Everyone couldn't believe what they were seeing: Takashi with a spectre looking a lot like Dante's Devil Trigger standing right behind him. Dante was very shocked to say the least despite the situation. Not only did Takashi manage to activate his Devil Trigger, something that he definitely had not seen coming anytime soon, but said Devil Trigger looked like a cross between his and Nero's. He had a feeling that it meant something, but wasn't sure what.

Takashi just ignored their looks of shock and started walking forward, the spectral figure behind him moving a bit until it seemed to overlap Takashi. Dante saw this happen as he knocked aside an incoming Scarecrow, his eyes narrowing a bit. He figured that the spectre would hang back a bit just like Nero's did, but this one was now practically covering up Takashi.

Like with Nero's Devil Trigger, the spectral figure was larger than the teen, but when it overlapped him, it seemed to shrink a bit to better fit Takashi, yet it was still large enough to most likely give him more of a reach with his attacks.

Dante managed to shake out of his stupor a bit as more demons and zombies began to approach him again. Their numbers now weren't as great as before thanks to his efforts so far, but the mob was still large enough to cause some trouble. He slashed one Assault at an angle with Rudra while decapitating an approaching zombie with Agni. "Give them hell kid," Dante muttered as he swapped then swapped out the twin swords for Nevan, which he then started to play, dozens of bats that were covered by purple lightning. The bats slammed into the nearest enemies, that being a few Scarecrows and zombies, the deadly bats tearing them apart as the lightning served to practically fry them a bit.

This action of his got Lady to snap out of her staring too and start to run right at the mob once more, pulling out her machine gun and quickly reloading it. "Make it hurt for them," she said as she started to shoot at the nearest targets she could spot.

Despite the noise Dante was now making, Takashi heard him and Lady. "I will," he muttered back to the devil hunters without looking, the sudden increase in the flurry of bats and shooting being their way of telling Takashi they heard him too.

Takashi walked angrily towards Shidou, who was still standing a bit too close to Saeko for his tastes. Shidou, on his part, had what could best be described as confusion on his face, his undead mind recognizing that Takashi had somehow just gotten stronger, but unsure of how it happened. Saeko just stared at Takashi, seemingly ignoring Shidou despite how close he was. "Komuro-kun," she said under her breath.

She was shaken out of her stupor when Tsunoda, who had recovered from being knocked back by Takashi's sudden Devil Trigger activation, roared and leapt from where he was at the silver haired teen. "Komuro-kun!" Saeko cried out in warning, but Tsunoda was already well within range of Takashi and reeled back his arm for a punch.

However, thanks to Devil Trigger, Takashi's senses and physical abilities were considerably greater than before. This was shown when Takashi almost lazily brought up his left hand and caught Tsunoda's wild punch. The punch was strong enough to budge Takashi a bit, but the teen was able to stop it. This had the effect of greatly surprising the group save for Dante and Lady.

They would have made some kind of sudden comment too if Takashi then didn't push Tsunoda back and deliver a vicious punch of his own. "Back off!" Takashi roared as he swung at Tsunoda. As he did so, the spectral fist of his Devil Trigger seemed to enlarge a bit and extend a bit off his actual fist. The punch came hard and fast at Tsunoda, who clearly hadn't been expecting it to be so much faster than before. First the spectral fist made contact with his face followed an instant later by Takashi's own. The two-for-one punch was so powerful that it slightly caved in Tsunoda's face a bit, cracking it and making it bleed as it sent him flying past Saeko and Shidou. The only reason why it didn't take his head off completely was because Tsunoda had instinctively taken a few steps back right before Takashi's fists made contact and thus saved himself a bit.

The group and Shidou followed Tsunoda's unexpected flight in amazement, only with the Blitz-zombie looking confused as to what was going on. "Saeko-san, go with the others and get that gate open," Takashi practically commanded, wishing for her to remain with the others in relative safety while he dealt with Shidou and Tsunoda.

Saeko, who had been looking at the now fallen Tsunoda in shock, snapped out of her funk and looked at Takashi, once more ignoring Shidou. "What about you?" she asked him, looking eager to help him rather than just wind up on the sidelines.

Takashi flexed his hands, the Gilgamesh gauntlets of his own hands and that of the spectre pulsing with power. "I'll take care of these two fuckers. Just help the others get in there and get a damn boat for us to use!" he roared as he suddenly ran past Saeko and went straight for Shidou. Shidou was taken aback by the speed Takashi was moving at, but was able to move to his right in time avoid the punch Takashi threw, though the spectral fist narrowly missed due to its size.

Saeko quickly turned around to see Takashi charge at Shidou once more, going for another punch. As she looked at him narrowly miss again, she knew that trying to help out would just result in nothing more than her being a burden to Takashi; he, Shidou, and Tsunoda were just out of her league. Grudgingly, Saeko slowly took a few steps towards the others by the gate before turning around for a brief moment. "Be sure to win," she said before running over to the others. As she wasn't too far away from them, she quickly reached them and past Kohta so that she could get to the gate. "Let's get this open, now," she said.

This snapped him and the others out of their own daze and got them focused again on the matter at hand. "Right," Kohta said back as he went back to working on picking the lock. Once more, he tried to work as quickly and quietly as possible just in case.

Takashi, with his hearing, heard him work on the gate lock, Saeko and Rei standing guard in case any demons or zombies somehow managed to pop out from anywhere. He smirked a bit knowing that such a thing shouldn't happen and they should be relatively safe for now. He focused quickly again on Shidou who had proven fast enough to dodge his attacks even when they were faster than before. "Ugly bastard," the teen snarled out before charging again.

However, he was interrupted by Tsunoda who had recovered from the first punch. Tsunoda roared as he tried to blindside Takashi, but the silver haired teen was able to stop his charge and step back in time to avoid the Blitz-zombie. But the Tsunoda wasn't done yet, swiping at Takashi with his left arm, which he hadn't been prepared for. But when it struck, it struck the side of the spectral figure first, it appearing to truly have some form of mass for it to be hit and bend under the force of the swipe. But it didn't stop the attack and so it hit Takashi's actual side and sent him flying several feet back before he landed. Takashi noted that the attack didn't hurt as much as before, though it certainly wasn't something that he could just laugh off. He didn't know what exactly the spectral image could fully do, but what it has done so far for him was certainly proving to be very useful.

Takashi shook off the pain and charged at Tsunoda, who in turn chose to meet his charge with one of his own. The two collided violently not even a second later, the force making a bit of a crater underneath them as they found themselves almost evenly matched. Both growled at each other, Tsunoda more than Takashi, before a few seconds later, Takashi began to actually push Tsunoda back a bit. He then stood up a bit straighter without letting go of Tsunoda and kneed said Blitz-zombie right in the gut, the spectral figure hitting a bit of a wider area than Takashi's actual knee. This had the effect of lifting up Tsunoda into the air a few feet. Takashi, still with a hold on him, spun around a few times and then threw him as hard as possible. He took a bit more than a little delight in watching Tsunoda go flying helplessly.

This feeling wasn't to last though for in that second Takashi dropped his guard and Shidou, who had been standing by for an opening, moved in and sunk a fist into Takashi's stomach as hard as he could. Even with the spectral figure taking the brunt of the hit, the punch was incredibly painful for Takashi, actually making him cough up a little blood as he skidded back from the force of it. He swore under his breath as he tried to get some air back in, having it knocked out by the punch and he looked at Shidou warily, noting that he hits far harder than Tsunoda.

He was about to re-experience this new fact for Shidou ran right him, going in low as if he was aiming for his legs. Right when it looked like Shidou was going to attack, Takashi tried to hit him with a vicious kick, but much to his surprise, Shidou suddenly jumped up and kneed Takashi right in the face with enough strength behind the hit to shatter his nose. Takashi swore once again as he stumbled back, but was able to recover quickly enough to punch Shidou in the side of the head as the Blitz-zombie landed in front of him. Shidou staggered a bit to the side from the blow, looking a bit disoriented and Takashi took advantage of this with another punch straight to Shidou's face followed by a low uppercut to the stomach and finally a powerful kick to Shidou's now lowered chin. This last hit knocked Shidou back and Takashi chased right after him, but had to dodge suddenly as Shidou came back to his senses and lashed out with backhand. Shidou wasn't done yet with his counterattack as he let the momentum of his own attack spin him around so that he can go for a punch with his other hand. He did it so quickly that Takashi actually didn't even try to dodge it, feeling that he wouldn't have been able to so instead he brought up both of his arms to block the hit. Shidou's fist slammed straight into the Gilgamesh gauntlets with enough power to make a loud clanging sound and forcing Takashi back a bit before the teen managed to dig his feet into the ground.

As quickly as he could, Takashi moved his arms back and then smacked Shidou's fist to the side. This had the effect of making Shidou lose his balance a bit due to how his footing was a bit unstable when he threw the punch and Takashi moved in on this and punch Shidou as hard as he could in the chin. Shidou did try to pull his head back to avoid it, but the punch still connected and knocked off a bit of the hard, stone-like material on his chin that a Blitz usually had.

This got a growl out of Shidou and before Takashi could even see it coming, Shidou suddenly leaned his body forward and hit Takashi square in the face with a nasty headbutt, breaking Takashi's nose again. Takashi stumbled back from Shidou, holding his nose in pain even as it healed. "What is it with them and breaking my nose?" Takashi couldn't help but wonder in annoyance.

Shidou charged at the teen, roaring loud enough to make Takashi's ears ring a bit. Takashi got into a defensive posture, ready for what Shidou would throw at him next. He wasn't anticipating Tsunoda coming up from his unguarded back and so was slammed forward by the Blitz-zombie, who had, after recovering, made his way around them until he was behind Takashi. Takashi stumbled forward right into Shidou, who knocked him down with a powerful fist to the chest. Takashi grunted in pain as he hit the ground hard. He closed his eyes for the briefest of seconds due to the pain, but when he opened them an instant later, he was looking at Shidou and Tsunoda almost standing right over him, about to attack once more. Takashi swore; this little double team of theirs is going to make this fight much, much harder.

As this went on, Kohta was trying to pick the lock still. The reason why he was taking so long was because he didn't have that much experience with lock picking and the lock in question was particularly difficult. "Can you hurry it up?" Saya practically growled from where she was standing.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Kohta said calmly, but his body language showed the frustration that he was feeling at this lock. A few minutes later, he just gave up. "Screw it," he muttered before standing and taking hold of his machine gun from Rei, who had been holding on to it all this time. Before any of them could say anything, Kohta took aim at the lock and fired off a round at it, blowing it clean off.

"What are you doing?" Rei asked, looking almost horrified. What if the round had gotten a demon's attention. Sparing a glance over to Takashi dodging some attacks from Shidou and Tsunoda as he got up off the ground, she noted that none of them seemed to react to the obviously loud shot.

Kohta had glanced at them too. "See, they're too busy fighting with Komuro to pay attention to us," Kohta said as he took a step back and kicked the gate open. "Now let's get in there and find a working boat." He moved into the port area and the others followed after him, Shizuka and Saya barely remembering to grab the supply bags, which they had nearly forgotten about in the wake of this fighting.

They walked in and noted all of the docks that there were at this port. Many of them were empty, the boats long gone, but thankfully there were several that still had a few boats there, all of them being surprisingly large cruiser boats, which perfectly suited their needs. "All right, we're finally getting somewhere," Rei said happily. The situation was now starting to end up a bit more positive, enough for her to ignore her wounds and pain a bit.

Saeko nodded, a small smile on her face as she felt the same. So did the others, with Alice being vocal about it. "We're leaving on one of those?" she asked, feeling a little excited. She's never really seen that many boats up close before.

Saya ruffled her hair, a smirk on her face. "That's right brat. We just have to make sure one of them has enough gas to get away from here."

Saeko pondered something for several seconds before speaking. "We should also see if we can find any gas containers to take with us in case we run low," she said.

The others nodded. "Then spread out and see if you can find any. The fighting back there is starting to sound even more intense," Kohta said, noting that it seemed like Takashi was taking the offensive once more against his opponents with a vengeance. The roars of the two Blitz-zombies seemed to be testimony to that.

They all nodded and Rei and Saeko went off in separate directions, hoping to find anything of use. Saya was going to take off too, but Kohta stepped in front of her and placed a hand up to stop her. "You might want to stay here, you three," he began to say, but then Zeke barked at him, making him smile a bit, "Sorry, I meant you four. I'll go check things out too, but it might be better for you to find a boat with enough gas for us to get of here."

Surprisingly, Saya didn't argue. "Fine," was all she said. And she took hold of Alice's hand and started walking to the nearest boat to check.

"Be safe, Kohta onii-chan!" Alice said as she was practically dragged away by Saya. Zeke followed after them barking.

Shizuka just grabbed hold of the supply bag she had and tried to catch up with them. "W-wait! Don't just leave me here!" she whined cutely, like a child.

Kohta couldn't help but chuckle as he went to go look for gas containers. He just hoped that things didn't get worse while he, Rei, and Saeko searched. "Be safe, everyone," he thought to himself.

As this went on, Dante and Lady were still having their hands full with the demons and zombies showing up. The two had silently decided to divide things up a bit: Dante focuses on the demons while Lady puts down any zombies, both normal and demonified ones. It was an arrangement that worked best for them; Dante had the stamina and power to kill scores of demons in seconds while Lady had enough bullets to put down a considerable number of Them. However, things were still looking a little bleak for them as the numbers just kept on piling up.

Dante strummed Nevan once more, a torrent of bats appearing out of nowhere and circling him as a shield, warding off some Assaults. But there was a Mega Scarecrow approaching slowly and it didn't seem too put off by the bat shield Dante had up. The devil hunter noticed this and immediately took his Tune Up stance before performing the standard combo that he had for the Devil Arm, shooting out a small swarm of lightning empowered bats right at the massive demon. The bats were crackling with more lightning than usual due to Dante still being in his Devil form and so when the bloodthirsty creatures slammed into the Mega Scarecrow, it was done so with enough force to make it cry out in great pain before making it stumble back a bit. This also had the benefit of making its legs slam into some nearby Scarecrows and zombies, knocking them back too or in some cases even severely wounding them or even killing them due to the sharpness of their leg blades.

But Dante was starting to tire now, his Devil form draining his stamina fast as it had been quite some time since he has ever been forced to use it. "Shit," he muttered as he saw the Mega Scarecrow recover rather quickly and try to move forward again. The Assaults were also starting to try and make their past the bat barrier that he still had up. If things kept up, he may actually end up screwing himself over here if he made a single mistake.

Not far from where he was at, Lady was in a similar predicament. She was shooting fast, but with a level of precision that only Dante could match and surpass. The zombies she was aiming at went down, a single bullet hole in their heads. Some demonified zombies were also showing up and they were proving a bit more resilient than the normal ones, requiring Lady to double-tap Them to put Them down for good. Blood and bodies littered the ground around her as she flipped over one zombie that tried to come at her from the side. As she flipped over it, she kicked it hard in the back, making it stumble forward into a few other zombies and Lady was quick to put Them all down with a short burst of bullets from her pistol. She then took aim with her other hand, machine gun wielded by it, and fired at several demonified zombies approaching her from the left. As they fell, Lady couldn't help but wipe away a bit of sweat that formed on her forehead and threatened to get into her eyes; while zombies were very easy for her to kill, their numbers and surprising ability to sneak up on her was taking its toll on her as she has had to duck and flip and weave past Them to avoid getting caught by their strong arms and eaten. It didn't help that every now and then a Scarecrow would move away from Dante and head for her, but thankfully it was just as easy to kill it as the zombies.

"Hurry up guys," she muttered to herself, hoping that a boat would be found and they can get away. If things dragged on any longer, then not even Dante and her would be able to get out of this without getting a good portion of their bodies bitten. And she had no intention of spending the rest of her life slowly becoming a zombie.

She moved forward a bit and put a bullet into the nearest zombie's head. Before it could even start to fall, a demonified one, a Scarecrow one, moved towards Lady and tried to cut her with its blade arm. However, the attack was slow and so Lady easily avoided it and smacked it in the head with the butt of her machine gun. The demonified zombie staggered a bit from the gun whip and Lady proceeded to blow its brains out with the same gun.

But that was when an actual Scarecrow demon broke off from the demon mob and hobbled over to her. A zombie or two got in its way and it actually cut them down with its blade leg, spinning around to slice Them in half horizontally. As the demon spun, it moved closer to Lady, who was once again being ganged up on by three zombies. Lady saw the Scarecrow coming and decided to put the demon and its low intellect to good use. She baited it by shooting a pistol shot or two at it to infuriate the demon and made it spin even faster, which in turn caused it to move towards her faster. As the Scarecrow approached, Lady quickly ducked underneath the arms of the nearest zombie, circled around it and kicked it hard in the back. Due to the positioning of the other two zombies, all three stumbled forward right into the path of the Scarecrow who unintentionally cut Them in two. The zombies' upper bodies spewed some blood as they went forward after being separated from their lower halves and slammed into the Scarecrow hard enough to knock it off balance. Lady then moved in and peppered the now fallen demon with machine gun rounds while firing into the back of the zombies' skulls with the pistol.

Her targets were now dead and after that, the female devil hunter immediately turned around in big circle, guns drawn, in order to see just how many zombies were left. The number of zombies that she felt had to be dealt with immediately were very small, only a few of Them little more than ten feet away. There dozens more however closing in around the whole area, but they were still meters away. Granted, some of Them were demonified zombies, but their movement speed was scarcely greater than the normal zombies. That didn't mean that Lady could relax a bit. She held back a sigh and wiped off a bit more sweat that had formed on her forehead; she still had plenty of work to do.

Back to Takashi, Shidou, and Tsunoda, their fight dragged on. Shidou and Tsunoda were bad enough to deal with on their own, but together, they were a force to be reckoned with as they kept on the attack, hardly giving Takashi enough time to launch his own attack. Even with Devil Trigger, he was hard pressed to keep ahead of the two thanks to their surprisingly good teamwork, both attacking at roughly the same time from different sides to ensure that Takashi had great difficulty avoiding.

Shidou came at the silver haired teen from his right and went for a leg sweep. Takashi leapt over Shidou's leg just in the nick of time, but then Tsunoda suddenly made his appearance right behind Takashi and tackled him hard out of mid air. The two went flying and rolled across the ground, Shidou immediately chasing right after them as soon as he finished the missed leg sweep. Takashi swore loudly as he and Tsunoda rolled to a stop. Tsunoda tried to make Takashi's head practically become one with the ground with a punch, but Takashi managed to hit him first with a fierce left hook, this one charged to almost full power. Tsunoda went flying from the hit and right into Shidou, knocking the two back.

Takashi looked at the Gilgamesh gauntlet, pleasantly surprised. Apparently, his Devil Trigger let him charged up his strikes faster than normal, a fact that Takashi immediately found useful. He was snapped out of this slight revere of his by Tsunoda, who quickly got off Shidou and charged at Takashi, roaring loud enough to burst eardrums if done up close. Takashi winced a bit at the sheer volume of the roar, but shrugged it off and started to charged up his right fist as much as possible. If Tsunoda noticed this, he didn't show it and just kept coming at Takashi and right when he was within three feet of his target, he lashed out with his left arm, but Takashi managed to see it coming and ducked right under it. As soon as he avoided the arm, Takashi stood straight up as fast as he could, hitting Tsunoda right in the jaw with a fully charged punch. The result was something Takashi found astounding: when his fist made contact with Tsunoda, at first, it looked like any of the other punches he hit him with, cracking the jaw a bit and making him spit out a little blood from the damage done, but then the full effect of the punch kicked in and Takashi watched in shock and a bit of awe as Tsunoda's head all but exploded, a fine blood mist appearing where his head was while some bits of flesh went flying about the surrounding area. This was also partially in thanks to Tsunoda not being anywhere near as durable as a Blitz as well as the other damage Takashi dealt him earlier in their fight adding up.

"One down, one to go," Takashi muttered as he briefly flexed his right fist after pulling it back and watching Tsunoda's body fall to the ground truly lifeless. Shidou, who had gotten up and appeared to have deduced what just happened through his hearing, roared in pure anger. That got Takashi's attention and just in time too, for Shidou moved blindingly fast towards him, eager for some revenge. Takashi charged forward as well and the two reared back a fist and struck each other with as much power as they could muster. Takashi had managed to charged up the punch about sixty percent, but Shidou proved to be very durable, taking the punch right in the side of the face, but without suffering the same fate as his now dead comrade. All the damage it did was just chipping off more of the Blitz-like features of his face. The punch he hit Takashi with also did its damage, nearly knocking his head off, but the teen endured until both of them pulled away at the same time.

Takashi moved in once more, hoping to get in close again before Shidou could react. He managed to do so and landed a solid kick to Shidou's left knee, the kick being charged as much as he could charge it in a split second. He had been hoping to cripple Shidou, to slow him down a bit, but the Blitz-zombie's knee proved to be strong thanks to it partially being like that of a Blitz. Shidou did stagger a bit, nearly buckling due to the strength of the kick, but he was able to stay standing and even managed to ram his other knee right into Takashi's stomach. Takashi skidded back, having seen the blow coming and was able to brace himself for it a bit. He grunted as Shidou then closed in on him. Once more the two punched each other in the face, intent on ending this fight right now.

Back at the port, Kohta felt the force of the blows from where he was at. He winced at the sound of it and prayed that Takashi would be able to put Shidou down soon. He had spent the past several minutes searching for any gas containers, but only had a little luck in this task, finding a relatively small one that was about three quarters full. He hadn't given up though; the port area was surprisingly large and he had yet to search every inch of the place yet, so he still had a chance to find more gas for the boat later on.

He lightly jogged across the open area over to a closed office. Looking at it from the outside, it looked like it was meant for paperwork and the likes, not the storage of supplies, but the gun otaku didn't want to potentially overlook gas containers because of this fact. When he made it to the door, he tried to get it open, but it was locked. Sighing, he opted to kick it in, the door looking weak enough for him to do so. He pulled away from the door and lightly charged at it with as strong a kick as he could muster. His foot slammed right into the center of the door with enough force to make himself back away, his leg a bit numb. The door budged a bit, but it was still standing locked. Kohta swore mentally before giving it another kick, this time backing up a bit more before doing it to add some extra momentum. This time, the door did give way, slamming right open.

Kohta moved in, gun drawn in case there was any of Them in the office, but he saw none. Sighing in relief, he gave the place a quick glance. The office was surprisingly tidy, only a small layer of dust that he could see, suggesting that it hadn't been used in a while. It was large enough for several people to work in, Kohta seeing five small work stations a decent distance away from one another.

He started walking forward, looking around the place for any small areas that may have had some stuff there. As he walked past the work stations, he found nothing there of any use, but he did noticed a door at the end of back of the whole office. Kohta figured that it probably led to either a closet or an office for the supervisor of this place. Kohta reached the door and gave the knob a twist, smiling a bit as it moved to show that it was unlocked. He opened the door enough to look in. It was indeed a supervisor office. It was relatively spacious, a nice desk in the middle of the room with some personal items on it.

Kohta ignored this though and focused on what was lying right in the middle of the desk though; a backpack. "The guy in this office must have left it behind for some reason. Probably because of Them," he pondered to himself. He entered the office and stepped up to the desk. Reaching for the backpack and unzipping it, he found a set of car keys, a wallet and some other small personal items. Kohta dropped them back into the backpack, wondering why the hell the guy would keep his personal stuff in a backpack of all things. But then when he reached back into it, he felt two large things at the bottom of it. Grabbing hold of both, Kohta pulled them out and when he did, he smiled. Right in his hands were two walkie-talkies.

"Nice!" he said happily as he inspected them and found them to have power still. He and the others could use these in the future. But before he could continue going with this line of thought, he looked over the desk and froze. On the chair opposite from him was blood. The sight of this blood immediately put him on edge; he didn't see any in the room he just came from and the place had been locked, meaning that someone, living or undead, should still be in here. He placed the walkie-talkies down and gripped his machine gun. As soon as he did, he felt a finger tap him on the shoulder.

Yelling out in fright, Kohta quickly spun around took aim at what just tapped him. He expected a zombie – most likely the guy that this office belonged to – but instead, it was Saeko, who looked very surprised at having a gun drawn on her. Kohta relaxed immediately and put his machine gun away. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Don't worry about it," Saeko said with a small smile, just glad that Kohta had checked before pulling the trigger. Rei was standing just a bit behind her, looking just as surprised as Saeko.

"Did you find anything?" she asked, snapping out of the surprise of seeing Saeko barely avoid getting her head blown away.

Kohta, still looking a little sheepish at his action, picked up the walkie-talkies. "Could be of some use for the future," he said. Then he noticed that Rei had one gas container in each hand. Saeko also had one as well in her right hand while two more sat by her left side. She had set them down before tapping Kohta on the shoulder. "Ah, so you found some extra gas!"

Saeko nodded. "We were lucky to have come across a rather large supply area over on the other side of this place. It was rather empty though; the people here must have raided it when this outbreak occurred, but we were still able to find some," she said as she reached down and grabbed the two by her left side, hefting them in indication with her words.

Rei nodded her head in confirmation of what Saeko said. "What got you so freaked though?" she asked, having noticed how jumpy Kohta had looked when Saeko had tapped him.

Kohta moved away from the desk so that the two girls could see the chair. They immediately tensed up. "Do you think…?" Saeko began.

Kohta nodded. "The guy in this office probably got bitten. There isn't enough blood on the chair to suggest that he died." And after he said that, he looked around the room once more, this time taking in every detail. In doing so, he noticed a window that he hadn't noticed before; he had been too focused on the desk. And the window was open, big enough for someone to crawl through for whatever reason.

That worried the three; there was probably one of Them roaming around this port. And there were quite a few places for it to sneak up on them. That didn't comfort them one bit. "Let's get going," Rei spoke. Kohta and Saeko nodded before they all got their stuff and left the office in a hurry.

As they did so, not far from where they had entered the port, Saya, Shizuka, Alice, and Zeke were looking at the boats that were docked. Some had been too small for the entire group to fit on, so the girls had opted to ignore those in favor of the boats that were big enough for everyone. Saya was mainly the one to do the searching of an adequate boat and to make sure it had enough gas to get them all a decent distance away from here, while Shizuka and Alice merely followed along. Zeke had the role of sniffing the boat out to make sure no one else was on board.

Saya let out a growl of annoyance. "Why are all of these boats so damn low on fuel?" she asked no one in particular. All of the boats she's check so far have either had less than half of a tank or were practically running on fumes.

Alice looked at the boats they haven't checked yet and pointed at one in particular: a large red and white cruiser boat. "What about that one?" she asked. Zeke moved from where he was by Saya, where he had been sniffing around, and ran on over to the little girl and barked out his agreement with Alice.

"Ehhh, you think that boat might have enough gas?" Shizuka asked, feeling positively tired; she had been carrying the bags they had taken with them from Takashi's house. The weight of them and the running around they were doing were really taking its toll on the busty nurse.

Saya didn't bother asking Alice why she thought it would be that one, but she did decide check the boat anyway. It's not like there was much to lose. "Fine," Saya replied to Alice and walked quickly over to the dock that the boat was at. The others followed after her.

As they got onto the dock and approached the boat though, Zeke slowed his running pace and growled at the boat. That got the girls' attention. He was clearly sensing something that he definitely didn't like. Saya growled herself at this possible obstacle. "Great," she thought aloud.

This whole time, she had the gun her mom had given her gripped tightly in her right hand. She had the safety on and intended to keep it on for now until she determined whether or not she needed to use the gun. "Stay back," she said to Alice and Shizuka. Zeke walked up to Saya and followed her as she approached the boat while the other two did as she said, albeit reluctantly.

Saya began to sweat just a little as she stretched a leg over the side of the boat and made her way onto it. She looked back at Zeke, who she left on the deck and the dog was still growling so whatever had him on edge was still there. This in turn put Saya more on edge. She started walking towards the cabin of the boat, gun gripped tightly and pointing right out in front of her. Reaching for the cabin's door handle with one hand, she gripped a bit harder than she meant to due to her nerves and quickly swung the door open before stepping back, taking aim inside.

There was nothing in there. Sighing a bit in relief at that, she still couldn't help but wonder just what was it on the boat that had Zeke so freaked out. In that same moment of quick relax, she got her answer to that question. "Saya one-chan, look out!" Alice cried out.

At the same time, Shziuka yelled too. "Above!"

Saya looked up just in time to see a zombie, a guy dressed in office clothes, stand up from whatever he was doing and lean over the railing of the boat deck on top of the cabin. What it was doing up there near the steering wheel of the boat, Saya didn't know, but she wasn't too worried about that for as soon as she had looked up to see him leaning over the rail, he fell right on top of Saya, who had been too shocked and slow to move out of the way.

Saya yelled in pain; the guy, even when a rotting walking corpse, was certainly no lightweight as his literally dead weight crashed into her, knocking the air out of her and crushing her a bit too. It didn't help her that the zombie was unaffected by the fall and started to try and bite her. Saya managed to push aside the pain in time to place slam an elbow under the zombie's chin to keep his biting face away from her.

But she found herself quickly losing strength in her arm; the zombie was particularly relentless in trying to eat her face right off, pushing himself against her with his strength. Saya mentally swore, hoping to shoot him and be done with it, but when he landed on her, it knocked the gun out of her hand and when she tried to reach for the gun with her free hand, she found it to be just slightly out of her reach. "Just like in the movies. Typical," she thought venomously, absolutely hating this situation. This anger of hers quickly disappeared as the zombie's face came ever closer to hers.

She was saved however when a supply bag came smacking into the side of the zombie's head. It struck the undead with enough force to knock him off of Saya and roll a few feet away. Saya looked up quickly to see who had just saved her. It was Shizuka, who had gotten from the deck to the boat and swung the supply bag filled with clothes and food – she didn't want to risk messing up any of the few medical supplies they had – to knock the zombie away.

Saya nodded her head in thanks briefly before quickly getting the gun and standing up. At the same time, the zombie had begun to get up. When he was half up, Saya took aim at his head and fired. The bullet went and tore through the right side of his forehead, narrowly missing the brain, but still hitting it enough to make the zombie stumble back a bit before falling down, dead. Blood began to pour out of the gunshot wound and due to the body's proximity to Saya, said girl had to take a step back to avoid getting it on her shoes.

"Thanks," she said to Shizuka, honestly grateful. That had been far too close for comfort.

"Yeah," Shizuka said, looking at the body instead of Saya. "Umm, what are we gonna do about that?" she asked, not wanting the body to just stay here on the boat.

Saya was about to speak when she heard worried yelling. Turning around, she saw Kohta, Rei, and Saeko quickly approaching the dock. Alice, who had been looking at Saya and Shizuka in obvious relief at their safety, turned and waved to the three, who calmed down when they got closer and saw that they were fine.

"What happened?" Saeko asked as she got close enough to talk.

Saya just moved aside and pointed at the zombie's body. Kohta got onto the boat and took a closer look at it. "Looks like this was the guy that owned that office," he commented aloud, more to himself than to the others.

Rei and Saeko just nodded, understanding what he was saying, but Saya, Shizuka, and Alice didn't. Rei chose not to enlighten them on Kohta's words. "How much gas does this boat have?" she asked, getting back to the whole point of this situation.

Saya shook her head. "Haven't checked yet. You could thank that zombie for that," she replied.

Kohta got up from where the body was and climbed up a small nearby ladder on the side of the cabin that led him up to where the steering wheel and other mechanisms were on top. Upon getting to the top, Kohta approached the steering wheel and looked to the side where the gas meter was at. He smiled. "It's a little more than three quarters full," he said happily, loud enough for them to hear.

Alice and Shizuka cheered, Zeke barking happily. Rei, Saeko, and Saya merely looked relieved. "Then what are we waiting for? Get the supply bags and those gas containers of yours stored on this boat," Saya said as she turned to Rei and Saeko and took note of the gas containers they had. The two of them just gave her a quick nod and proceeded to go into the cabin to put the gas containers there. Shizuka put down the supply bag she had to get the other one she had left on the dock along with helping Alice and Zeke onto the boat. After that, she and Alice put the supply bags alongside the gas containers in the cabin, which they found to be surprisingly spacious, big enough for five people to sit in without squashing up against one another. There was a small bed too, big enough for about two or three people to lie down. Whoever had owned this boat sure liked to have a lot of space.

"Does anyone know how to drive a boat?" Kohta suddenly asked.

Everyone froze on the spot, which answered his question immediately more surely than words. "Ah hell," he muttered. He looks back at the gate to the port and managed to get a small glimpse of Takashi and Shidou still fighting. "Looks like we're going to have to wait for them to get here," he said.

As they were doing all of this, Takashi was busy trying to keep Shidou at bay now. Takashi had landed some good hits on the tenacious Blitz-zombie, but his Devil form was really taking its toll on his stamina while Shidou was still going strong thanks to his undead state. Takashi was practically rasping for breath as he dodged a punch aimed for his stomach, twisting his body to the side as fast as he could. Shidou growled at his moving target and moved in a little more to slam a knee into Takashi's stomach. Takashi grunted both out of pain and exhaustion as he staggered back.

"God damn it," he muttered as he coughed up a little blood. The spectral figure that protected seemed to be losing the little substance it had to begin with, allowing for Shidou's blows to strike harder as the spectral figure offered Takashi less and less defense. The speed up that his Devil form also gave Gilgamesh's charge was also starting to wear off, forcing Takashi to have to charge up the strikes seconds before hand, which put him at yet another disadvantage.

He started to charge up the left grieve, ready to go in for kick. However, Shidou ran at him before he could charge it up that much and Takashi was forced to release the kick with the little power he managed to put in it. shidou was too close now to have noticed the kick and so ended up taking the full brunt of the attack as Takashi's foot slammed right into the side of his face. Shidou grunted and flew several feet from the force of it before he managed to roll and correct himself.

Takashi started to charge up his right gauntlet and ran over to Shidou as fast as he could, hoping to get him before he could move again. But he wasn't as fast as before though, being quite tired now, and so Shidou was able to just get up and side step to his left a bit to narrowly avoid Takashi's punch. But Takashi had been expecting the worst so he was ready for Shidou's dodge and so let the momentum of his punch carry him forward before he spun around and nailed Shidou dead center in the face with a left backhand, the blow taking Shidou by surprise enough to make him stagger back and open himself up to more blows.

Takashi took advantage of this and charged forward, kicking the Blitz-zombie as hard as he could manage in the left kneecap, following it up with a left hook as Shidou hunched forward from the first blow, then a right uppercut that knocked him right off his feet. Shidou flew back and nearly landed on his head, Takashi hoping that there was a small chance of Shidou cracking his skull open on the ground, but that hope was quickly dashed when Shidou placed his hands on the ground to keep himself from crashing as he flipped over.

Takashi didn't get a chance to do anything as Shidou took off faster than any bullet and slammed right into Takashi, hitting him hard enough to send them both flying right through the open gate to the port.

"Takashi onii-chan!" As he and Shidou skidded across the ground, Takashi tried to look in the direction of where the voice came from and briefly saw Alice and the others on a boat, watching in horror as Shidou recovered first and got on top of the teen. Takashi looked back at Shidou just in time for Shidou's fist to smash right into his face. The ground caved under them and blood spurted out of Takashi's crushed, but rapidly healing face as Shidou drew his fist back. Takashi's face didn't heal that much before Shidou punched him again with his other fist, making the ground cave even more, shaking the area.

Takashi grunted in pain and tried to fight back, but he was really feeling tired here. He hardly had enough stamina left to do anything. Shidou took advantage of this and pressed on with his punches, each stronger than the last as his fists quickly became a blur. Takashi grunted under the assault, his entire head wracked with pain.

Despite all this though, he still maintained his Devil form, though the spectral image was nearly nonexistent at this point. And on top of that, the silver haired teen managed to focus enough to start charging up his right fist, the Gilgamesh gauntlet crackling with more energy than ever before as Takashi put all of his focus on it. Under Shidou's assault, the fist burst with bright red energy, but seconds later that burst turned a dark blood red, signifying that Takashi had charged it up as much as it could go.

Grunting, Takashi then quickly brought up his left hand and caught Shidou's incoming fist, throwing the Blitz-zombie's assault off for a second as he was surprised at Takashi managing to catch his fist. He was so surprised that he didn't notice Takashi's left fist starting to charge while his fully charged right fist suddenly come up and strike him right in the center of his face, the power of the punch being so great that it actually completely shattered his nose and caved in his face, knocking Shidou off of Takashi.

Through sheer will power, Takashi quickly stood up and went after Shidou. The Blitz-zombie was too busy staggering from the hit to notice Takashi in time when he got close and hit him again in the face with his left fist, which was now fully charged at that point. Shidou roared as the punch connected, smashing his face in even further. The Blitz-zombie did try to go for short uppercut, but Takashi saw it coming and swatted the incoming fist aside before unleashing the most furious assault he's ever unleashed, intent on putting Shidou down here and now before he completely ran out of stamina.

Shidou was helpless as Takashi hit him over and over again in the face, chest, and stomach, the punches doing serious damage as bones began to falter and break under the powerful strikes. The few times Shidou did try to fight back, Takashi would put a stop to it with a good kick to the knee to halt the counterattack and force Shidou down a bit. "Just go down already!" Takashi nearly yelled as Shidou still managed to remain standing after several seconds of this relentless assault.

A few seconds later, Takashi tired of this and stopped his attacks, rearing back his right fist and started to charge it up, intent on finishing Shidou with this punch. Shidou was quite damaged from the assault, his face a complete wreck as it bled while his upper torso was badly bruised from Takashi's punches. However, that didn't mean he was going to let that stop him from fighting still. As Takashi started charging up what he hoped would be his final punch, Shidou tried to hit him with a left hook, which Takashi was able to avoid by narrowly tilting his head back. But Shidou followed it up with right one, and then an uppercut, a cross punch, and a kick to the legs, but Takashi was able to avoid Shidou's attacks, which were getting even wilder than before.

But he knew that he couldn't keep dodging for much longer. His charge wasn't as fast as before as he felt his Devil form about to give out on him, taking the benefits its given him with it. "Just two more seconds," he thought.

Shidou roared as he charged in low to go for Takashi's legs with a powerful tackle, but Takashi just barely managed to jump high enough to avoid it, flipping forward to get behind Shidou. But Shidou apparently knew Takashi would do this because midway through the flip, Shidou adjusted himself, moving a bit up now, causing Takashi to accidently bump into his upper back and messing up his flip. Takashi landed unceremoniously on the ground. "Shit!" he yelled.

Shidou then turned around and went for him once more. Takashi's eyes widened as he now felt his Devil form just about to give way. Not wanting that to happen just yet, he let out a bit of a battle cry as he forced himself to roll out of the way when Shidou tried to smash an elbow into his head. Immediately after dodging it, the both of them stood up quickly, but Takashi managed to get up first. Forcing the little energy his Devil form had left into his now fully charged fist, Takashi yelled as he threw a vicious punch at Shidou's face, the Blitz-zombie too slow to avoid it.

Takashi could feel the others watching as it seemed as if time slowed down. Shidou was still getting up from the failed elbow drop and so was unable to avoid Takashi's punch as it slammed right into his messed up face. The instant the punch made contact, Takashi's Devil form gave out, reverting him back to normal. Takashi gasped as complete and utter exhaustion came over him, but before he could fall down due to this, his fist proved to be powerful enough to not only cave in Shidou's face even more, but was actually able to punch right through his whole head. Takashi felt Shidou's brain matter and pieces of his skull fly out as his fist emerged from the back of his head. Shidou let out a feeble cry as this happened before his arms slumped. This was then followed by the rest of his body slumping as well. Shidou was now dead.

Takashi just stared at the now dead Blitz-zombie, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. After several seconds past and the body still didn't move, he finally began to accept that he was indeed dead and he slowly pulled out his fist, Shidou's body falling the ground like a puppet cut from its strings. He let out a bit of an joyful cry before he suddenly slumped to the ground himself, utterly tired.

"Takashi!" he heard Rei yell from the boat.

He waved to them, letting them know he was relatively okay. However, he didn't have the energy to try and make his way to them on the boat. "Uh, damn it…" he thought. However, about a half minute later, he felt someone get his arm and place it over their shoulder while the person grabbed him with the other arm. Looking up, he saw Kohta as the gun otaku started to move as quickly as he can with Takashi now slumped against him. "Good timing," he said, feeling quite thankful.

No problem, Komuro," Kohta replied with a smile. But it quickly was replaced with a serious expression. "What about Dante and Lady?"

Takashi, in the heat of his battle with Shidou, completely forgot about the two devil hunters. "Ah shit," he said. He pondered this for a moment as Kohta walked back to the boat. Then, much to the surprise of everyone, he suddenly yelled. "Time to go!" he yelled as loud as he could, knowing that Dante could probably hear him.

Sure enough, Dante did. He was still pressing back against the now considerably smaller mob of demons, though he was feeling quite tired now thanks to his Devil form eating away at his stamina. It was right after he switched from Nevan back to Rebellion that he heard Takashi's yell. He grinned. "About damn time kid," he said to himself before running forward at a Mega Scarecrow that had been approaching him for some time now. Running up to it, he suddenly jumped and dropkicked it right in the center of its massive body while at the same time kicking himself off of the demon as it flew back from the force of the dropkick.

Upon landing, he turned to the thinning zombie crowd nearby. "Hey Lady, time to leave this party!" he yelled.

Lady, who just put down a few zombies with a well placed missile from Kalina Ann between Them, smiled. "Finally."

She put Kalina Ann back on her shoulder before whipping out her machine gun and blasting all of the zombies in her sight in the legs to slow Them down. As soon as she did so, she turned and made a run for the port.

At the same time, Dante faced the demon crowd once more. Suddenly flipping Rebellion so that he now held it in a reverse grip, the silver haired devil hunter unleashed his Drive attack, grunting considerably as he swung the sword as hard as he could. The energy wave was absolutely huge, easily several times larger than normal thanks to him being in his Devil form.

The energy wave traveled fast, much faster than any Assault demon could move, and it plowed right on through the demon crowd, the attack instantly killing all demons that touched it save for the Mega Scarecrows, these demons only surviving due to their large size and the area that the attack hit. Regardless, much demon blood was spilled as the Mega Scarecrow were still bleeding out to death now, some of them practically flying back and crushing other demons under its weight.

After Dante had performed the attack, he took off, easily catching up with Lady as they both reached the port gate at the same time, Dante deactivating his Devil Trigger at this time. His run faltered due to him being incredibly tired, but he quickly recovered and moved on, keeping pace with Lady now as they hurried to the boat.

"Nice one," Dante said admiring the boat briefly as he quickly ran onto the dock and leapt onto the boat from there. Lady followed close behind him, looking just as tired as him.

"Let's go. Right now, before the demons and zombies start to recover," she said in all seriousness.

Takashi, who had dismissed the Gilgamesh gauntlets and grieves just a moment earlier and was now sitting down as he rested, looked at them. "Just one thing: none of us know how to drive a boat."

Dante smirked. "You leave that to me kid," he said.

"Are you sure, Dante-san?" Shizuka asked him, concerned because of how tired he appeared to be.

Dante nodded. "Don't sweat it. I may be itching for one hell of a nap now, but I can manage driving this thing." Without another word, he made his way to the latter and climbed it to where the steering wheel was at.

He fiddled with the controls for a minute, making everyone getting a little antsy as they really wanted to get moving soon. "What's the problem up there?" Saya growled out.

Dante rolled his eyes. "Relax. I'm just getting a feel for this baby," he replied.

Saya was about to retort to that, but that was when Dante started the boat, the engine kicking in loudly enough to cut her off before she could even start speaking. At this, the group cheered a bit. Even Lady couldn't help but smile, glad that they finally made it.

"Alright, now let's see what this can do," Dante said. And before the group could steady themselves against anything, Dante practically put the boat on full throttle, the boat shooting out from the dock so fast that the rope that connected it to the dock – something that the group forgot to check – snapped easily. Those of the group that were standing, which was everyone except for Takashi, lost their balance and nearly fell.

"Damn it, are you trying to make us fall off this boat?" Saya yelled at him.

"That was too close," Kohta muttered, having been near the edge of the boat when it started moving. He got agreeing nods from Rei and Saeko, who were near the edge as well. Alice had been launched from where she was standing onto Takashi's lap along with Zeke, Takashi weakly chuckling as Alice and Zeke slowly got up. Shizuka and Lady looked quite frazzled, steadying themselves, Shizuka more so than Lady as the latter had been expecting Dante to do something like that.

Dante laughed from where he was at, but settled down and got a little serious after a while. "So where to?" he asked.

"Anywhere but here," Takashi spoke up as he tried to stand, a small task that he proved to be successful at, though it was obvious that it was sapping him of the little stamina he has recovered. He made a note to himself to talk to Dante later about his Devil Trigger.

The group got serious, thinking about all that had gone on these past several days. At first, things had been so normal, but then out of the blue gone completely to hell. At first figuratively, and then literally with the appearance of demons. They could all say quite calmly that given the way things are now, the world may never return to the way it was before.

"For now, I think we should just head to an island or something. You know, to relax and rest up," Saeko said, noting how tired and hurt all of them were.

"Yeah, I'm with you on that," Rei said, rubbing a particularly nasty bruise in pain.

Dante nodded. "Alright then."

"Just keep heading in this direction and we'll eventually see some small islands. It shouldn't take too long since we just left from the west side of Japan," Kohta said, thinking aloud a bit near the end.

After that, the group began to sit down and rest a little, talking a bit amongst themselves as Dante kept on with the sailing of the boat. Takashi just tuned them all out, closing his eyes a bit to rest. He thought about everything they had gone through and how despite what they've had experienced so far, they still had very few questions to the many questions they all had. Just how did this zombie outbreak start? How did this make the demons start to appear more and more? What happened to their parents? And if they're still alive, will they ever see them again? These just a few of many questions that Takashi felt really needed to be answered at some point.

He opened up his right eye to look at the group briefly. Already, he could see them relaxing just a bit, knowing that no demons or zombies could possibly chase after them now, especially at the speed Dante was getting this boat to move at. He watched as Alice laughed a bit at a bad joke that Kohta told her, Shizuka, and Lady, no doubt one he just made up to try and lighten the mood.

Takashi smirked a bit before he closed his eye. He figured that he could worry about those questions later.

End

* * *

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is it! Yeah, sorry for the rather cheesy ending; I've worked through all the scenarios in my head on how to end this and that was the best I got.

But moving on from that, THANK YOU! Thank you all so very much for reading this fic! I've had a blast writing it and I hope that you all had a good time reading it as well. So many people have reviewed this fic and favorited it that it really does touch my heart! So once again, THANK YOU ALL FOR READING! I HOPE THAT YOU ALL CONTINUE TO ENJOY ANY OF MY FUTURE FICS AS I WRITE THEM!

UNTIL THEN, TAKE CARE!

Sincerely,

Rialga


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